Lost Knowledge Harry Potter and the Living Wards
by SnuggleKitten69
Summary: Witches and Wizards are forgetful, lazy and have no common sense.  Ancient and Noble houses they may be, but they can still be destroyed. Or can they? Long forgotten lore concerning the lands of these families is about to come to light again. HP/HG/DG
1. Affects of magic on mundanes

Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, receive monetary or other compensation from these works nor do I profit from them in any way other than the enjoyment I personally derive from developing these stories. All characters, locations and situations existing within the universe of Harry Potter, not existing in the real world, are the properties of their respective copyright holders. I am just borrowing them from time to time and carefully leaving the keys in the basket by the door and the petrol tank topped off. I also carefully hang up Hermione's, Luna's, Lavender's, Padma's and Parvati's (and any other ladies') robes when they have been removed to keep them from wrinkling.

WARNING: Relationships may not be what they seem. If there is something unusual going on, you will know it from the notes at the beginning of a chapter. Fair warning though, if polyamorous relationships are a squick for you, these are not the droids you're looking for.

Author's note – For those of you who set alerts on this story early on, my sincerest apologies for getting your hopes up. I did not know alerts would be sent if I replaced chapters. I blame it on the murgphrumps. They keep me awake at night chewing on my wand's core. Regardless, since "irregardless" is not a word, I will do my utmost to not foul up subsequent chapter postings through reckless postings of incorrect or incomplete versions of chapters. For all other claims of guilt, I was not there, that was someone polyjuiced as my computer.

My chapters tend to be short, but I will post frequently. I generally won't do cliff-hangars as my intent is for the story to be written from a perspective of being complete with the next chapter being just a click away.

While I appreciate reviews, I am not going to hold the reader hostage; authors who refuse to post chapters until their reviews hit a certain number are suffering from delusions of adequacy.

The following section separations are used:

-oOoOo- denotes a scene change

-o-o- and multiples thereof denote a flashback or extended memory

-oooOOOooo- denotes an author error of epic proportion as these sections are not intended to be published and are my means of keeping notes and internal instructions. They may as well be -DOH!-

Potter family arms - Sable a fesse ermine between three cinquefoils argent

-oOoOo-

BBC World Service - 12:14 am UTC July 23, 2000

"This just in. A mild earthquake has been reported 17 miles southwest of Inverness by seismologists at the Ministry of Science. The earthquake is being reported as 6.2 on the Richter scale and occurred in a densely forested area. We are receiving word from people as far away as Liverpool that they felt the tremors and heard a loud rumbling. Its 15 minutes past the hour."

-oOoOo-

London Times, Early Edition - July 23, 2000 - "Massive Solar Storm causes Aurora Borealis to be seen in Southern Europe for the first time in 150 years"

Last night's "mysterious lights in the sky" as reported by BBC news was, according to scientists at the Oxford Observatory, nothing more than the result of a massive solar storm that caused the upper atmosphere to glow brightly. "While this normally occurs at the most northern areas of the Earth, during particularly spectacular solar storms, the sun is putting off so much energy that it can light up the entire night sky, much as it did last evening." said Professor Elizabeth Johnson Smith, senior professor of astronomy at Oxford. "While rare, I assure you this is a naturally occurring event. This is also likely the cause of the power fluctuation experienced during the same period of time. Solar storms consistently cause electrical system malfunctions," Dr. Smith explained, referring to the power distribution grid disruption occurring last evening and the apparent destruction of the television and radio satellite known as EutelSat 4. A spokesperson for the European Union Independent Utility System Authority (EUIUSA) indicated EUIUSA staff are still investigating the cause of the disruption to power services which affected more than 100,000 residences and businesses. A spokesperson for the European Telecommunications Satellite Organization (Eutelsat) indicated they are working with the BBC, Ministry of Defence, the British National Space Centre (BNSC) as well as NASA in the United States to determine the cause of the loss of the satellite. Indications that an accidental detonation of a nuclear device were dismissed by the Ministry of Defence as no residual radiation was measured anywhere near the affected areas.

-oOoOo-

Sethanion Keep, New Inverness Island, Polinia Archipelagos, 1292 nautical miles Northeast of Georgetown, Guyana; 3:03 am UTC June 12, 2000

Neville stood in the Northwest tower, as the wind raged past while the sea hurled at the rocks below as it had done for eons, a battle which neither the water nor the rocks ever won. Sleep would not come to him this night. There was something in the air. Some semblance of wrongness. Something the very earth murmured was wrong.

He trusted his feelings. When he was a child, they had saved him many a time, whether it be a cauldron exploding in Potions or falling from a broom during training. Some of his friends believed him to be an untrained seer due to the accuracy of his premonitions.

Never before, though, had they had such a strong undertone of death or destruction. Not even before the self-proclaimed Dark Lord fell on a blood-filled field did he sense such utter despair.

Since he was overseeing the harvesting of the annual shedding of the bowtruckle fur, he was not close enough to home and its familiar magic to know for whom this feeling was directed. He would need to wait until the harvest here was complete, three more weeks, more or less. He knew, once he was surrounded by the familiarity of his home estate and surrounded by his family magic, the feeling would coalesce into a more solid answer.

He extinguished his pipe, descended from the tower and entered his office in the center of the keep. After writing his impressions and feelings in his Visions journal, he closed the book and carried the lamp upstairs.

He entered their bedroom, disrobed, climbed into bed and curled up between Ginny and Luna. He kissed Ginny softly on the forehead and in her sleep she cuddled closer.

Luna had been awake and turned to him. "There is nothing to worry about. All will be as it must be. You will only be able to help heal afterwards. Do not worry this night," she whispered to him softly.

He kissed her reverently. "I know I should not worry, Love. Sleep, Little Star," he said and also kissed her softly on the forehead.

Luna curled up against him, sighed, and was quickly asleep again.

No matter which relaxation technique he tried, however, Neville was unable to find restful sleep this night.

-oOoOo-

Somewhere in the vicinity of The Centaurs' Refuge, Forbidden Forest, 65 miles west of Inverness, Scotland; 10:23 pm UTC June 12, 2000

_Run through the forest, he says. It'll be easy, he says. Run in, grab it and run out. It's not like they can do magic or anything. He clearly didn't have a clue!_ Draco mused_._ He had been running at full tilt, turning, dodging and speeding along the path that was no path.

He rested, breathing slowly – as quietly as he could. He had finally lost his centaur pursuers and had no intention of giving away his position, even now. He heard a twig snap. Too close. He ducked just as a crossbow bolt entered the tree behind where his head had been.

He was on his feet and running again, silently. _Thank Merlin for these princely gifts!_ His boots and cloak had been given to him on the anniversary of 'The Great Battle' as it was known. They had been spelled permanently silent by the high elves, a race not seen in all of recorded history. This time he did not stop running until he saw the lights of Hogsmeade.

He walked into The Three Broomsticks, changing the color of his cloak from deep forest green to a bright green with silver trim as he crossed the threshold. Madam Rosmerta greeted him warmly and directed him to his usual table.

A steaming butterbeer and a shot of Isleshire were delivered shortly. He slammed the shot, swished it in his mouth and swallowed. It cleansed his mouth and felt as if it had coated his throat with heat for a moment before it became a gentle glow of warmth in his stomach. He then sipped his butterbeer while watching the room to see if anyone was paying too much or too little attention to his presence. As he could sense no one looking for him, he quietly finished his drink and had ordered a second.

He was halfway through the second butterbeer when his vassals, Vincent and Gregory, arrived, much to his relief. He nodded to them, at which point they became even more hyper-vigilant, a change only he noticed. They greeted Madam Rosmerta and went to his table. He stood to greet them.

"There is something going on. All of the packages were delivered late," Crabbe said, by this Vincent meant, "_The Death Eaters have all managed to elude their watchers somehow."_

"**All** of them?" Draco asked calmly, while inside he was practically shrieking, "_What in the Seven Forms is going on? This is NOT a good time! Not with us getting so close to our goal."_

"Yes. All of them. And the owls haven't returned either," Goyle said. _The watchers are missing._

"Hopefully they will come back when they get hungry?"Draco mused outwardly. On the inside, Draco was having a panic attack. "_**Oh, Merlin's Broken Wand! This is bad!"**_

Crabbe responded, "I doubt it. At least a few were found nesting elsewhere." _No, we found a few bodies. They're all likely dead._

"Do I have time to finish my drink?" _What is the sense of urgency?_

Goyle shook his head. "We should go. Your father is worried. You should go to him." _It is not safe for you, your father or your family here any longer. We have been instructed to get you all out now._

"You're right. We should be off. At least this will set Father's mind to rest, not to mention seeing my little ones."_ At least my mission tonight for Father was successful._

"We need to get back to the compound. Let's go outside so as not to appear rude," said Crabbe. The three walked outside. Once outside, Crabbe held out the portkey, Draco and Goyle took hold of it and all three disappeared.

-oOoOo-

"He has escaped us and taken it with him."

"It will not stay hidden long. He will keep it. He will be tempted to use it. When that happens, it will be as if the heavens shouted his name across the stars. In that moment, we shall hunt him until not one of his is left upon this plane."

"How can you dare to claim such a thing when..."

"Do not dare question my ability, colt, or your pelt shall adorn The Great One's lair."

This quieted all of them. The elder stallion continued to stare at the spot formerly occupied by the three wizards.

"Come. They shall meet their doom soon enough." With that, the elder stallion turned and walked back into the forest. The other 5 centaurs followed him deeper into the forest, not entirely understanding, but following their leader nevertheless.


	2. Ancient Rites

Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, receive monetary or other compensation from these works nor do I profit from them in any way other than the enjoyment I personally derive from developing these stories. All characters, locations and situations existing within the universe of Harry Potter, not existing in the real world, are the properties of their respective copyright holders. I am just borrowing them from time to time and carefully leaving the keys in the basket by the door and the petrol tank topped off. I also carefully hang up Hermione's, Luna's, Lavender's, Padma's and Parvati's (and any other ladies') robes when they have been removed to keep them from wrinkling.

WARNING: Relationships may not be what they seem. If there is something unusual going on, you will know it from the notes at the beginning of a chapter. Fair warning though, if polyamorous relationships are a squick for you, these are not the droids you're looking for.

– This chapter makes two references to self-mutilation. The specific section is denoted by the centered header -OOOoooOOO- thrice in a row. It is not graphic and is only mentioned briefly, but some of my betas felt the warning was needed.

-oOoOo-

34 miles Southwest of Inverness, Scotland, United Kingdom, 5 miles West Southwest of Balbeg, Highland, Pontius Caledonia Castle, just outside the outer ward boundaries; 11:39 pm UTC June 20, 2000

Kriscaryn Milner, "Crissy" to her two closest friends, was afraid. Her father was a powerful, pureblood member of the Wizengamot. Her mother was one of the top five women in the social circle of the pureblood women. Her parents were also both death eaters and were fully accepting of whatever was necessary to support the ends of their fallen Lord.

Crissy had believed it all as well until some facts were presented to her. The man whose ancestral home she was approaching was a half-blood yet was considered to be, if not the most, one of the most powerful wizards to have ever lived. Said man was married to a pureblood and to a muggleborn. The muggleborn was considered to be smarter than Rowena Ravenclaw by many and the senior wife by his pureblood wife. His pureblood wife was number two in the pecking order amongst her mother's social circle. The man was their Defense Against the Dark Arts professor and had been such for the past two years, breaking the curse of the position.

While all of these had had an effect on her beliefs changing, the biggest change had been her best friend, Aliwyn Silvergates.

-o-o-

Both she and Aliwyn had been sorted into Slytherin. The hat had wanted to put her in Ravenclaw, but her father had told her to tell the hat to put her in Slytherin. The hat had balked until she let it see her memories of her father threatening her with a punishment he reserved for misbehaving house elves if she didn't manage to get into Slytherin.

Aliwyn had asked the hat to put her in the same house as her new friend. The hat had its reservations, but placed Aliwyn in Slytherin, much to the astonishment of every single member of the staff. Aliwyn was the first muggleborn to be placed in Slytherin in over 600 years, the last one of which was found dead at the base of the astronomy tower after only three days at Hogwarts.

Crissy hadn't known Aliwyn was a muggleborn until that night, when the seventh years had all explained to Aliwyn how unwanted she was and how she likely wouldn't survive the week and how little they would care should she fall down the stairs or drown in the sewers beneath the dungeons.

Aliwyn had stood there, her arms rigidly at her sides, her hands balled into whitened fists. Just as the seventh year male prefect, Barnabas Lagger, was about to begin yelling at her again, Aliwyn, in an unnaturally deep and ancient voice cried out, "Enough!" as everyone in the room except Aliwyn and Crissy were thrown to the ground away from Aliwyn. The shout seemed to echo for minutes off the dungeon walls.

In the same ancient, deep voice, she then began talking just above a whisper, yet everyone in the common room could clearly hear her.

"I shall take your position into consideration," she said haltingly, as if speaking were something she had not done in a great while. While Crissy was worried about her new friend being hurt by the others in her new house, she was more concerned about the way Aliwyn's eyes had rolled into the back of her head and she seemed to be seeing through the whites of her eyes. Aliwyn blinked, returning her eyes to their normal rotation, but her pupils were fully dilated and the blue of her irises was nearly invisible. A chill seemed to fill the common room as an unseen wind tore at the seventh year students' robes and courage. Everyone except Crissy and Aliwyn shivered. The illumination from the torches and wall sconces dimmed considerably. Aliwyn relaxed her hands and then splayed her fingers out towards the mass of terrified Slytherin as the fetid stench of rot and decay filled the nostrils of all but the two girls.

Aliwyn chuckled a quiet, almost evil laugh while speaking, again in a halting fashion, "Well. It seems your terms are not acceptable." The last three words seems to reverberate off the walls of the dungeon, as if Hogwarts herself were ringing from the power within her voice.

Crissy was then very happy that she had not eaten whatever it was the older boys had eaten at dinner as they all soiled their robes and were shaking and sweating. It seemed, on further examination, that a few of the older girls had eaten the offending dish as well.

Crissy knew that Aliwyn was somehow responsible for everyone being thrown down, and chalked it up to accidental magic. She'd just never seen accidental magic like this before. She had, however, seen more than her fair share of bullying as her parents enjoyed bullying house elves and people for whom they felt they had power over, including Crissy and her younger sisters. These people had all been fearful of her parents and she thought that Aliwyn must just be so scared that she was about to faint.

Crissy did the only thing she could think of. She tool Aliwyn's hands and shook her arms. "Aliwyn, we should go to our dorm and see what our room looks like!" she exclaimed, feigning excitement and curiosity while in reality just trying to get her frightened friend to calm down.

Aliwyn blinked again and her eyes were once again their beautiful china blue. "That would be wonderful, Crissy! I am so looking forward to learning how to use my magic!" she exclaimed, taking Crissy's hand.

The two now-genuinely-excited girls ran down the stairs into the deeper dungeons of the Slytherin girls' dorms, leaving behind a terrified house of snakes.

-o-o-

-o-o-

She was afraid because her father had threatened her with the worst possible harm. He had threatened to kill Aliwyn, who had been visiting for the summer, if she did not do as she was instructed. She didn't want to do it, but Aliwyn was her first-ever true friend and, on her twelfth birthday last week, was the first person to ever give her a gift that wasn't ridiculously practical or nothing more than a materialistic token rather than a gift of love.

Aliwyn had given her a gold and platinum ring with their names engraved on the inside and emerald snakes swimming around on the outside of the band. To say that Crissy was stunned would be an understatement. Aliwyn was a muggleborn, after all. How would she know where to get such a wonderfully beautiful and exquisite gift. Nevertheless, she let Aliwyn put the ring on her right ring finger. Aliwyn then reached into the pocket of her blouse and placed an identical ring on her own finger.

"Friends forever!" Aliwyn exclaimed, holding her left hand with the ring out to Crissy.

"Friends forever!" Crissy shyly exclaimed, never having had anyone before Aliwyn wanting to be her friend, much less wanting to be a forever friend. She reached her right hand out to Aliwyn and clasped Aliwyn's hand in her own.

When she had finished the last syllable of "forever", with their hands entwined, she felt a force wash over her body. Wash over her magic. She felt strange for a moment, as if something ancient within her had been released from its cage, inspected, fed, then put back in a larger, more spacious cage. A cage to protect it, not a cage to imprison it, as it had been locked up before. It felt as if she'd been given the key.

She had meant to kiss Aliwyn on the cheek but the blonde girl had turned her head at the last instant and ended up getting kissed on the lips.

Crissy felt a spark where their lips touched in a very chaste kiss, but it seemed special somehow and they had held hands and talked throughout the rest of the day and well into the night, eating the meals the house elves brought. She never thought she would get tired of seeing the tears of joy on the little creatures' faces when she said 'please' and 'thank you' when talking to them in Aliwyn's presence.

The next day, Aliwyn had not been in her bed in the early dawn and her father had given her a task to complete if she wished to see her "little mudblood plaything" alive again.

-o-o-

-OOOoooOOO-

-OOOoooOOO-

-OOOoooOOO-

Her father had been overjoyed in his research when he discovered that "sacrificing a virgin", when translated from the original Gael, did not actually mean killing an unspoiled child. It merely meant the girl in question would need to have her first blood fall on the ruins of one of the raising stones. The blood would have to be unpolluted by the seed of a man and it had to be done at the stroke of midnight to properly commune with these types of wards.

-OOOoooOOO-

-OOOoooOOO-

-OOOoooOOO-

Her father told her how to find the remains of one of the great hematite and onyx towers, the chant she would have to utter and her mother had shown her how to use the malachite knife her father had given her to properly harvest the right type of blood needed to perform the ritual.

She had been apparated to within two miles of the outer wards and would have to walk by herself to the base of a stone tower.

And here she was, standing at the base of one of the massive stone towers that were markers for the raising of the original wards for the Potter ancestral manor. The tower did not look like a ruin. Instead, it appeared to have only just been completed. There were no scars of weather or time on the great tower before her.

-OOOoooOOO-

-OOOoooOOO-

-OOOoooOOO-

Yet it was here that she would have to give a blood sacrifice, using the almost-phallic-looking stone knife to do what was needed to assuage her father and allow her friend to live.

-OOOoooOOO-

-OOOoooOOO-

-OOOoooOOO-

As she approached the tower, however, she felt something surround her and push on her from every direction. It touched her body, her mind and her magic. Her father had been teaching her occlumency and had used legilimency on her for six years so that she would know how to keep her thoughts secret. This was the same, yet different. Instead of it feeling like an attack intended on violating her mind, this felt like when she used to sit in the lap of her great grandmother and was just held in her arms after scraping a knee or getting scared by a post owl. She felt it examine her every memory, her every belief; every fibre of her being. As it left her, she felt an almost overwhelming sense of love.

She also felt her ring from Aliwyn warm on her finger and throb with her own pulse. She didn't know how, but she knew Aliwyn was safe and alive at the moment.

She looked up at the tower and felt a second wave of power wash over her. She closed her eyes and sensed the power changing her subtly.

When her eyes opened a few moments later, she saw the collapsed ruin of the tower at whose base she had performed the ritual. She saw a tinge of crimson on her hand where she had used the now-bloody knife to harvest the blood for the ritual and it was still a bit tender to walk. She winced occasionally as she walked back the way she had come, arriving at the small stack of stones she had set as a marker and used the portkey her father had given her to return home once the deed had been done.

-oOoOo-

When she returned home, Aliwyn had been walking through the rose garden and had run to her and embraced her in an engulfing hug. Crissy was crying tears of relief that her friend was unharmed. It would be just like her father to kill Aliwyn regardless as a "lesson" for her to obey without question. She did not know why her father was being generous and she dared not ask. As the two of them walked into the manor hand-in-hand, she noted her parents were in the sitting room, sitting rigidly on the primary chesterfield.

"It is done, Father," Crissy said, her eyes cast downward in as she had been taught. She therefore did not see the shudder that ran through her parents. She carefully raised her eyes and did see her father's slight nod.

The two girls went up to Crissy's room and Aliwyn held her as she told her what she had done. Tears were running down her face as she described her fear at her father's threat, at her fear of losing her friend, and continued to cry as she spoke of the loss of her innocence and the destruction she had been forced to be party to to ensure Aliwyn's continued safety. Aliwyn held her throughout, kissing her on the forehead intermittently, but being gently supportive.

Crissy fell asleep, still held in Aliwyn's arms.


	3. Where there be dragons

Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, receive monetary or other compensation from these works nor do I profit from them in any way other than the enjoyment I personally derive from developing these stories. All characters, locations and situations existing within the universe of Harry Potter, not existing in the real world, are the properties of their respective copyright holders. I am just borrowing them from time to time and carefully leaving the keys in the basket by the door and the petrol tank topped off. I also carefully hang up Hermione's, Luna's, Lavender's, Padma's and Parvati's (and any other ladies') robes when they have been removed to keep them from wrinkling.

WARNING: Relationships may not be what they seem. If there is something unusual going on, you will know it from the notes at the beginning of a chapter. Fair warning though, if polyamorous relationships are a squick for you, these are not the droids you're looking for.

-oOoOo-

39 miles South-Southeast of Resita, Romania; 12 miles Northwest of Orsova, Romania; 12:17 am UTC June 21, 2000

Charlie flew through the valley that was Aro'thlok's. The mist lay heavy along the jagged rocks below, hiding everything smaller than a castle. The full moon reflected brightly from the impenetrable fog below.

"She must be particularly wary this evening to put out that much fog," he thought. He peered down into the swirling morass, performing his grid search for nearly and hour but was having no luck in spotting any of her young. "Well, nothing to do for it but land and look," he thought, even though he knew it was against protocol to be in this valley.

He was familiar with the Western-most entrance to her lair and cautiously circled above to insure there was no movement below. Seeing none, he landed a kilometer south, shrunk his broom and headed north. After walking half a mile, a distinct but unspecific feeling of dread overcame him. The fog had become so thick he could barely see the ground in front of him and had to slow his pace almost to a crawl, literally feeling his footing one step at a time.

The roar caused him to fall and drop his wand. He fumbled around for it, but could not find it. He heard a reverberation in the air, looked up and saw a Horntail's talons flying just a few feet

above the ground, ripping away a line of the fog. His heart was beating even faster still but he stilled for a moment in shock, his wand forgotten. The rational part of his mind was in work mode. "There hasn't ever been a recorded sighting of a Horntail in this valley. Was a Horntail foolish enough to hunt in her valley? Really? Wait! Its hunting me!" Charlie was one of the few keepers who believed dragons to be intelligent magical creatures and not just mindless killing and eating machines.

Another roar! Impossibly loud. Louder than the Horntail's. The fog rolled back, burning off unnaturally fast. Charlie recognized the Horntail now. It was Simulid, seemingly one of the more arrogant and foolish males in the Horntail flight. He had likely come here for easy food as the valley was filled with wild game animals. Then _She_ appeared in the sky. Simulid turned at the challenge, intending to do battle.

Simulid then saw the source of the roar and turned away again as quickly as possible, using all of his strength in a desperate attempt to get away. She was easily ten times Simulid's size and moved faster than even the eldest Horntails. She caught up to him easily, but Charlie could see she was not interested in causing Simulid any real harm, yet, as she was nipping at the end of his tail, causing Simulid to panic. Simulid turned and headed back towards where Charlie lay, watching the events in the sky unfold. She, too, turned to follow, then began overtaking him. The entire length of her body passed the Horntail and, at the last moment, she whipped his head with the triangular tip of her tail hard enough for him to go plowing into the ground. She continued her flight and turned back towards the Horntail. She flared her wings and came in for a landing. The earth trembled as she set down. She then then walked to where the smaller dragon had slid to a stop and moved just behind him. Each step shook the ground.

Charlie thought that he was going to watch a Horntail die tonight.

Using her front teeth just behind his head, she picked Simulid's head up from the ground. Although shaken by the impact with the ground, Simulid knew to the very marrow of his bones that his end was near and went limp in fear and submission. A deep growl began in her chest, resonated up her neck, out of her mouth and reverberated into Simulid's head.

"I told your kind in the last age to leave my valley in peace. I told your kind at the beginning of this age to leave the riders in peace. Yet your flight's centurions continue to disturb my solitude and contemplation as well as harass the riders. You will be my last warning messenger to your flight. This foolishness stops now or your flight ends." the man heard in his mother's voice.

"My apologies, Great Clouded One. I was told by the other centurions that there was easy food to be had here and that the flight elders had not seen you in their time so you must be no more. I wanted to come and eat my fill of easy game," Simulid said in a very frightened, boy-like voice.

As Charlie stood there in amazement at hearing dragons actually speak, the first image that popped into his head was that of his mother scolding his youngest brother.

"You will be leaving here. Before you go, I shall mark you so your elders know your tale is true when you give them my message," and with one of her talons, she drew a cut across the left side of his central back ridge and healed it, leaving a wide, white line.

She released Simulid's neck. "Go now. My appetite is strong with this night's chase and I grow weary of your presence. You are most fortunate my centurions are phased this age or you and your flight would have been their meals until there were no more of your kind. Leave, before it is you I make a morsel of."

"Phased?" Charlie thought in confusion.

Simulid bowed his head in respect. "Thank you for your mercy, Great Ice Queen," he said. He then turned and flew to the North, the shortest path out of the valley.

Aro'thlok turned and walked to where Charlie lay, the ground again trembling with each step. He tried to not move. To not breathe. He didn't know what to expect from talking dragons.

She lowered her immense head over him, turned her head and looked directly at him with one of her large, pale blue eyes. "Now as to you, Rider. What reasons exist that your kind risk my ire every rising sun and every waning moon? Few of your kind have ever proven worthy enough to speak with my flight. I told Myrddin at the beginning of this age that disturbing me was done at your kind's peril. Were your life spans longer, you would be formidable allies or worthy opponents."

As the man was about to speak, the dragon turned her head rapidly to the West, sniffing the air. She returned her attention to the man. "Rider, I will see that you leave my valley and go to a place of relative safety. Fools amongst your kind have awakened one of the elder guardians."

The white mist suddenly surrounded him and he passed into darkness.

-oOoOo-

62 miles Northeast of Resita, Romania; 12 miles East of Lugoj, Romania; 1:02 am UTC June 21, 2000

"_[How in the nine basements of Hell did you get here?]_" Cipriana exclaimed in Romanian to the prone figure laying on the floor. "_[This is the women's dormitory! Get out! Get out now! You stupid, stupid man!]_" she continued in her surprised rant. The remaining women in the room squealed and grabbed for their towels, and not entirely out of modesty. How this man had apparated through anti-apparation wards was unknown.

Charlie opened his eyes. While he certainly considered the sanctuary housing facility safe, he certainly didn't think the women's shower was a place of safety. "Aro'thlok certainly has a wry sense of humor," he mused, "or a rather skewed definition of 'safety'." He then looked at Cipriana, who was gorgeous, wet, naked, grabbing for her towel and about to kick him in the ribs. He turned his head away and yelled. _"[Stop! I am awake! I am looking away! _Aro'thlok _somehow apparated me here!]"_ while scrabbling to his feet.

" _[_Aro'thlok_? You SAW _Aro'thlok_?]"_ She asked in awe, knowing Charlie had been searching for her for three years. He turned around.

That was a mistake.

One would think catching a fleeting glimpse of a near-mythical dragon would be a stunning sight.

Actually meeting with a dragon from legends and having it talk to you would be a wonder beyond imagination.

Turning around and seeing Cipriana in her naked glory was more than his mind could deal with.

He looked into her eyes, then trailed down to her lovely lips and got stuck at her nearly-perfect breasts.

He never saw the towel until it snapped into his leg near a very sensitive piece of his anatomy, shocking him back to the here-and-now and raising a welt on his inner thigh.

"_[You deceitful, toffee-nosed, lecherous British bastard! Get your lying ass out of here now before I emasculate you with my foot!]_" she seethed.

He turned and ran for the door.

"_[The next time you want to see me naked, you'd better ask me!]_" she yelled angrily at his disappearing posterior.

He stopped at the door and turned around. _"[How about later this morning in my quarters?]"_ he asked wryly.

He nearly fainted at her response. "_[I will be there in 7 hours, after my watch. Be freshly washed and shaven. Have a hot, herbal bath drawn for me. You can teach me more of your barbaric language.]_" she said with a smile, "_[And no more delusional stories of meeting dragons]_," and pushed him out the door, closing it behind him.

She turned around with a smile on her face and noticed he had left something behind where he had appeared.

"Oh crud! I'd better file my report!" Charlie exclaimed and rushed to the main building to speak to the head keeper.

Inside the women's shower, Cipriana walked to where the wand lay. She had seen Charlie's wand in the past and nearly fainted at the site of what she saw. The wand that lay upon the tiles was not any wand she had ever seen before. Instead of being made of wood, it appeared to be formed from solid mist or ice. Where a normal wand handle would be, was an ornately carved dragon's head. With trembling fingers, she reached down to pick the wand up. The other women in the shower looked questioningly at her. She only had eyes for the wand, however. As her fingers touched the wand, she felt a chill pass through her and closed her eyes, shivering at the passing touch. Opening her eyes once more, she gasped. In her hand was Charlie's wand as it had always been. "_[Am I now hallucinating too?]", _she wondered.

She straightened and stood, staring at the wand in her hand. The faintest of tremors rattled the windows in their casings. Startled, she and the other women ran to the door, opening it and looked out. Although she could see nothing, Cipriana and the rest of the women felt an unshakeable feeling of dread as a thick bank of fog obscurred the stars.


	4. The Homecoming of House Longbottom

Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, receive monetary or other compensation from these works nor do I profit from them in any way other than the enjoyment I personally derive from developing these stories. All characters, locations and situations existing within the universe of Harry Potter, not existing in the real world, are the properties of their respective copyright holders. I am just borrowing them from time to time and carefully leaving the keys in the basket by the door and the petrol tank topped off. I also carefully hang up Hermione's, Luna's, Lavender's, Padma's and Parvati's (and any other ladies') robes when they have been removed to keep them from wrinkling.

WARNING: Relationships may not be what they seem. If there is something unusual going on, you will know it from the notes at the beginning of a chapter. Fair warning though, if polyamorous relationships are a squick for you, these are not the droids you're looking for.

-oOoOo-

6 kilometers Southwest of Alston, United Kingdom, 21 kilometers East of Hesket, United Kingdom; Coltor Castle, Olympia Manor; 7:29 am UTC July 6, 2000

They had flown to the edge of the outer wards from the apparition and portkey point in the outlying area of Hesket. Rather than apparating to the manor, Ginny had wanted to fly as she had not been able to with the stormy weather on the island. Luna and Neville shared a broom and each others proximity. They also loved to watch the enthusiasm Ginny had for flying. Neville, Ginny and Luna stood at the edge of the outer wards. It was the first time all three of them had been away at the same time for so long and all three of them had missed home for very different reasons.

While Ginny had appreciated the hospitality Harry, Hermione and Daphne had put forth at New Inverness, Ginny missed her duties running the Longbottom House, insuring the needs of the vassals and elves were taken care of and having the responsibility of insuring the smooth operation of House Longbottom. She enjoyed the planning of the parties and the other social and etiquette requirements of the House. Neville and Luna appreciated Ginny all the more for her wanting to take care of these worldly duties involving the minutiae for which Neville treated as if it were a punishment if he had to deal with it and Luna had no desire to grasp. In Luna's mind, as she had told Ginny, one of the duties Luna appreciated most was Ginny's care for Luna. Whenever Ginny thought of her conversation about this with Luna, her eyes would well up with tears because of Luna's lack of a demonstrably loving home after her mother died.

On a more intimate level, Ginny missed the long walks with her two loves and the comfortable feeling of belonging. She did not care for the salt air and the spray of New Inverness Island. Even within Sethanion Keep, the warmth of the fires would never seem to provide her the bone-deep warmth of the hearths here at Coltor. And while the Potter house elves provided for nearly everything at New Inverness, she did not have the familiarity with them, even after two months, as she had with the Longbottom house elves after only a few days. This brought Ginny's thoughts back to a year ago when she had brought the Longbottom house elves into the family.

-o-o-

It was Ginny's love, more specifically the love of family, that had rejuvenated the Longbottom elves, although she did not know it at the time. The elves had been decrepit and listless when Neville had first returned with her and Luna after their Wedding of Three.

She had learned well from both Harry and Hermione that house elves were thinking, loving, quirky, devoted little beings. She had asked Hermione to come for the day and help her plan, as Hermione had done the most research on house elves and knew things about the little beings that had been lost to the dust of antiquity. Hermione had given her recommendations based on what she, Harry and Daphne had done with the Potter elves. Ginny took Hermione's recommendations to heart and followed them to the letter.

There were twelve elves at Coltor and she learned all of their names the second day. On the third day, she had called all twelve elves to her room and had a stack of clean, white, house elf tabards. All of the house elves were quivering in fear until she had explained that she was not giving them clothes and that they had done nothing wrong. Instead, so the house elves could proudly display their being members of the Longbottom Family, they were being asked to wear uniforms, like the house elves at Hogwarts had worn.

She suddenly, and rather unexpectedly, had twelve crying house elves hugging her as she knelt down. As she put on each one of their tabards, she thanked them for the years of service they had already provided to the family and how proud she was to be welcomed into a family whose house elves were so hard-working and full of love and devotion for the family. By the time she had dressed the twelfth elf in their tabard, her robes were soaked through to the skin in elf tears.

She had told Neville and Luna about what she had done with the twelve elves from the manor during their dinner and both Neville and Luna were crying in remembrance of Dobby and his sacrifice. Neville had wrapped his arms around both of the women and held them close, kissing them both on their heads.

"It's a wonderful thing you do, Gin. I love you for who you are. Don't change," he said, his voice full of emotion.

Luna was, of course, the one who posed the question, "How many house elves do the Longbottoms have, Neville?" she asked, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"I don't know, Lu-Love, but I will garner a guess that Gin-Love will know by Saturday," Neville said, looking at Ginny while pulling Luna's head to his chest. Ginny gulped.

The next morning, Ginny had owled Hermione with the results of Hermione's most-excellent advice and asked Hermione to be there for support when she brought all of the Longbottom elves together for the giving of tabards. Hermione agreed but indicated Luna and Daphne would need to be there as well.

On her fifth day at the manor, she had gathered all of the Longbottom house elves from all of the estates. It had been a bit sad for Ginny as, while Augusta Longbottom did not abuse house elves, neither did she care for them. The lack of love had been all too evident. In all, the Longbottom family had ninety three house elves, almost all of whom seemed to be tired and run-down.

Luna had tears running down her face at the evident lack of love, while both Hermione and Daphne, who had apparated over that morning, had looks of determination in their eyes.

Standing in a room with twelve happy house elves and eighty-one terrified elves was emotional for Ginny. She and Luna had chosen to wear white tabards matching the ones she had previously given out to the twelve elves from Coltor. Hermione and Daphne were wearing their black acromantula silk Potter-Black robes and were each standing behind and to the side of Ginny and Luna.

"I am not here today to give any of you clothes," Ginny began with a smile and immediately saw the wave of relief wash through the room. Ginny then took on the countenance of a Lady of an ancient and noble house, as did the other three Ladies. "Lord Neville Franklin Longbottom, my husband, is a strong and powerful wizard and I, Lady Genevra Molly Weasley-Longbottom, speak with his voice. He is proud of his own accomplishments. He is also proud of the accomplishments of all members of House Longbottom. The house in which you are all members," she paused because the sound of gasps within the room was nearly deafening. Even the twelve from the castle had gasped at this revelation.

Luna spoke as well."Lord Neville Franklin Longbottom, my husband, is a strong and powerful wizard and I, Lady Luna Venus Lovegood-Longbottom, speak with his voice. He is proud of his own accomplishments. He is also proud of the accomplishments of all members of House Longbottom. The house in which you are all members," she said.

Most elves were bound by oaths of slavery, as these elves had been until Ginny and Luna spoke those words.

"As members of the Ancient and Noble House of Longbottom, Lady Luna Venus Lovegood-Longbottom, whom shall be addressed as Lady Luna," Ginny directed to Luna, who began speaking.

"and Lady Ginevra Molly Weasley-Longbottom, whom shall be addressed as Lady Ginny," Luna said with a smile as Ginny picked up the speech.

"welcome each of you as members of the House of Longbottom," Ginny said, motioning to Hermione and Daphne who both took a step forward.

"Lord Harry James Potter-Black, my husband, is a strong and powerful wizard and I, Lady Hermione Jane Granger-Potter-Black, speak with his voice," Hermione said then paused as the elves gasped again. "I am here to proudly witness your joining the Longbottom Family as members, as the Potter and Black house elves are now members of joined Families Potter-Black."

Daphne looked over the room of elves and smiled. Daphne had told Ginny in private that this was a gift Hermione would cherish for years to come, much as Daphne and Hermione had cherished doing the same for the Potter and Black elves. Daphne would literally do anything for Hermione and this was so easy a thing to do.

"Lord Harry James Potter-Black, my husband, is a strong and powerful wizard and I, Lady Daphne Ophelia Greengrass-Potter-Black, speak with his voice," Daphne said. "I am here to proudly witness your joining the Longbottom Family as members, as the Potter and Black house elves are now members of joined Families Potter-Black."

The women moved to stand in a circle and joined the tips of their wands together over their heads.

"So mote it be," they said in unison. A bright, Spring-green column of light shot upwards to the ceiling, flooded down the walls of the room and washed over all of the elves.

When the spell was completed, all four of the women had self-satisfied smirks on their faces and joined in a group hug.

The elves, however, were completely and utterly stunned. They had felt their bonds of slavery dissolve to be replaced by a magical bond much more powerful. A bond based on loyalty, duty, love and family. Their level of mental overload was heightened even further as the four women turned to them again and twin stacks of tabards appeared beside Hermione and Daphne.

"As I said earlier, I am not here to give you clothes. So that you can proudly display your being members of the Ancient and Noble House of Longbottom, we are presenting you with uniforms, much like the house elves at Hogwarts wear uniforms. All of you, including Tanker, Stoopy, Clocks, Tinkle, Digger, Stodgy, Prickly, Sparkle, Jester, Bossy, Minxy, and Blammo." While the house elves were shocked, the original twelve from Coltor were even more surprised. Not only did Lady Ginny remember their names, she included them in the membership ceremony!

"Form two lines and come up to receive your tabards," Luna said. The "Yes, Lady Luna" replies from the elves echoed off the walls for some seconds as the elves formed two lines and marched up to Ginny and Luna.

As each of the elves approached, Ginny or Luna would ask their name, Hermione or Daphne would hand a tabard to Ginny or Luna who would then place a tabard on the elf. As the tabard went on, the elf's name became magically embroidered under the small coat of arms over the elf's heart. The back of the tabard had a large Longbottom coat of arms covering the back with the family motto embroidered above, "Labor Omnia Victus".

Each time they placed a tabard on an elf, the elf invariably began crying and hugging the young women. Both Ginny and Luna had silently thanked Hermione and Daphne at least a dozen times that day for casting the water-proofing charms on their robes.

-o-o-

Luna missed the calm background of Coltor Castle which, in turn, helped calm her inner sight. Before she had gotten married to these two wonderful people standing here with her, she had found herself best connected within the small garden at the Rookery. When their marriage was finalized with the Vows of Sealing, she had felt her center shift to here. This was now her home and she felt as if she had been connected to this place all of her life.

Her visions during her time at New Inverness were just as dark and gloomy as the stormy weather of the island. She had seen nothing but visions of destruction, fire and fury. Even the maelstrom within the international port key they had used to get to and from New Inverness had not been as chaotic as the scenes she had witnessed when Seeing while on the island. She knew that some of the visions had been in the ancient past as she had watched fourteen men and women in deep cloaks woven from unicorn hair chanting around the base of gray-silver towers. She knew this ritual from her studies in the Black Family library with Hermione. She had not understood the writing until she had witnessed the ritual in her visions. She had read of a sacrifice but her visions of these rituals did not show her anyone dying. Those visions involving death had been related, she sensed, but were not parts of the ritual.

She shook herself from her memories and reveled in the feelings of warm and home which washed over her. She squeezed Neville's hand and reached across him to grasp Ginny and pulled them into a three-way hug. Luna was crying a bit at the feelings of belonging, not only to the land, but to these two amazingly wonderful, loving people.

Ginny raised her eyebrow at Luna questioningly. Luna looked back at her and explained. "When I was growing up after my mother died, I was so alone. At Hogwarts, I was alone again until Harry and Hermione befriended me and introduced me to the two of you and now..." she sniffed but plowed on ahead, "now I feel happily surrounded by people who love me more than I have ever been loved before. The elements are welcoming us back with a bright, sunny day and filling me with such a sense of warmth, home and love that it's a bit overwhelming," Luna said, the dam finally bursting and her tears now running down her face unashamedly.

Both Neville and Ginny held her in their arms. Ginny was cooing softly to her but just loud enough for Neville to hear, "Lu-Love, you will never be alone again. We love you and unless you want some private space, I will be near you or with you every waking moment," and as Luna's face came up to meet Ginny's, Ginny closed her eyes and gave Luna a gentle kiss.

"When I am Nicholas Flamel's age, I shall never tire of seeing my wives demonstrate their love for one another," Neville whispered softly to the two of them. This earned him a passionate kiss from both women and turned Luna's tears to gentle laughter. After receiving his kisses, a breathless Neville continued his thought, "Or demonstrating their love for me," he grinned. Both women smiled and kissed his cheeks.

Neville could feel the welcoming of this place for the last several miles. He had felt the strength of the wards as they reached out to him in welcome. When they had landed and walked to the edge of the wards, Neville could feel his connection to the lands, which had been stretched due to the distance he had been from home, return to full strength. He closed his eyes to feel the wash of power flow across him. He arched his back, stretched his arms out wide and said formally, "The Lord Longbottom has returned."

There was a thrum from the wards and the three watched as a wash of purple light ran up the outer wards. Although they expected this by now, it was still a bit awe-inspiring to see. The three continued forward, walking on the path through Neville's herb garden on the eastern edge of the wards. Both Ginny and Luna ran their hands along the rosemary, lavender and heather and each time they brought their hands to their faces would sigh at the overwhelming sense of home and belonging as they took in the scents of the various plants. The ladies had also had it drilled into their heads by Neville, Daphne and Hannah Abbot to not touch anything brightly colored or anything black. Sometimes the containment wards on the more dangerous gardens could get bypassed and the spore of a dangerous plant could land and grow where it was not expected. Neville kept a vigilant eye out for anything untoward growing in and amongst the herbs. He didn't expect anything, but the danger still existed.

They reached the inner wards and walked to the gates. The sentries had clearly been alerted their Lord had returned for the gates were opened and it seemed the entire estate had come out for their return. The house elves were standing in two lines of six in front of the gates and it was clear to everyone who was not an elf that the elves were barely containing their urge to run forward and hug the approaching trio.

"Husband, we realize you want to insure all the gardens are weeded and all the hot houses are planted and all the green houses are in order, but we want your undivided attentions for three days," Luna said shyly.

"Husband, I have barely seen you these last six weeks. You've left before the sun rose and returned long after midnight each night for the past six weeks. I have no doubt you are looking forward to tending your plants, but our Lu-Love is right. We, more than your plants, need your undivided attentions for the next few days," Ginny said, sounding far too formal for a walk through the gardens.

Neville looked sharply at Ginny and Luna. Both had their eyes downcast, as was deemed proper in pureblood society, not that Neville put any stock into that. Daphne and Gran had apparently been drilling both of his wives in societal behavior during their "Ladies' Night Out" visits. Making a decision which, for Neville, required no thought.

"Chamberlain of the House!" Neville shouted. An older man walked up to Neville and began to kneel before Neville made a motion for him to stop. The man stood at attention in front of Neville.

"Are you going all formal on me as well, Simon?" Neville asked the man then embraced him, much to Simon's embarrassment, although he did return the hug before the young man would release him. "It's good to see you, Simon. How fairs the House?"

"The House fairs well, My Lord," Simon said with an amused smile.

Neville looked at him with his own wry smile. "Well, Simon, it seems I have been remiss in some of my duties as Lord Longbottom. Does anything require my immediate attention or the attention of my Ladies in the next four days which might interrupt me from the duties I have been so lax in performing?"

"No, My Lord. There is a vote of the Wizengamot a week from today which My Lord may be interested in reviewing and the Hogwarts Board of Governors meet the following morning," Simon said, trying his best not to laugh.

Neville heard a soft noise behind him and whipped around to see both Luna and Ginny trying their utmost to look innocent by looking up at the clouds and anywhere but Neville.

Neville turned back and with a resigned shake of his head looked at Simon. "Thank you, Simon," Neville said then whisperer, "Simon, could you make sure...," Neville began when Simon softly whispered back to him, interrupting him.

"Lord Neville, the virility and pepper-up potions were placed in the second drawer of the bureau in the master suite this morning. Should the Ladies choose to do so, the fertility potions are in the top drawer of each side table," Neville's eyes bugged out at this and he began sputtering but Simon pressed on. "My Lo...er...Look, Neville, your wives are staring daggers at me so I'd best let you get upstairs to get your duty done. In my 32 years of marriage, I've learned you don't keep a man's wives waiting on him for long unless you enjoy being on the receiving end of hexes and jinxes," Simon whispered conspiratorially. He then said, in a normal tone of voice, "Yes, My Lord. We shall see you in five days!"

"Simon, I said four days," Neville looked at him bemusedly.

"Yes, My Lord, but both of your Ladies are holding up five fingers and making motions with their wands and I like my bits where they are, if you know what I mean," Simon said softly.

Neville turned around just in time to see Ginny slap her arms to her sides and Luna rapidly moving her arms to scratch the back of her head, again both of their eyes were searching the sky.

Neville turned back. "Yes, very well. Five days!" The crowd laughed in good humour at the antics of their Lord and his Ladies.

Ginny and Luna each took one of Neville's arms and led him into the house. He held himself with as much dignity as he could when everyone in his employ was laughing at his happy predicament. At the top of the stairs, the three of them turned and waved to the crowd, who cheered. The trio turned again and the doors to the manor closed behind them. For the next five days, Neville's fate was sealed.

"Sometimes it was great to be Neville Franklin Longbottom!" Neville thought to himself with a wry smile on his face as he and the Ladies entered the master suite.

-oOoOo-

6 kilometers Southwest of Alston, United Kingdom, 21 kilometers East of Hesket, United Kingdom; Coltor Castle, Tempest Keep; 11:59 pm UTC July 12, 2000

Neville was spooning into Luna who was in turn spooning into Ginny. The two women were deeply asleep after the three of them made love for six impassioned hours. Regardless of what Ginny's Witch's Weekly may publish, Neville could not get to sleep.

While Neville had taken a virility potion and two pepper-ups earlier in the evening, he did not think these significantly contributed to his inability to sleep.

He did believe that his inspection of the top drawers of Luna's and Ginny's side tables were the predominant reason for his lack of sleep. He had thought he had been in the room the entire time the three of them had been intimately engaged, but it was apparent the two women had either mutually or individually distracted him to give them sufficient time to each consume a fertility potion.

"Thank the Goddess," he thought to himself, "these two are educated and didn't take one every night!" Neville remembered stories his Great Uncle Algernon had told him of witches who had consumed a fertility potion before each intimate coupling with their husband on their honeymoon, insuring a fatally-high number of simultaneous conceptions that would require the intervention of healers or monsters of unimaginable creation being born.

Neville carefully extracted himself from Luna and Ginny and tucked the blankets back around them. He cautiously stood so as not to disturb them and put on his robe and slippers then walked to the door and quietly closed it behind him. He walked downstairs to the third floor and entered his den. He called for Sparkle, who popped into the den less than a second later. Sparkle was a rare gift in house elves as she spoke more like a person than a house elf.

"Sparkle, could you please go to the master suite and silently cast Ago Eluo on the Ladies? I forgot to do it when I left and I have no wish to disturb them," Neville explained.

"I will do so immediately, Master Neville. Would you like a snack or something to drink while I am here, Master Neville, sir?" Sparkle asked, unconsciously wringing her hands.

"A light snack and a firewhiskey would be appreciated, Sparkle," Neville said.

The little elf disappeared with an almost silent pop. Neville had counted to twenty before Sparkle had reappeared with a large silver platter containing an assortment of warm meats, steaming freshly-baked bread , chilled fruit, a pitcher of water, a water glass, a small bottle of firewhiskey and a glass appropriate for sipping the whiskey. She set a doily on the return of Neville's desk, removed a trivet from the pocket of her tabard, setting the trivet on the doily and then set the tray on the trivet.

"My apologies for taking so long, Master Neville, but I know you want the Ladies needs taken care of first," Sparkle explained, looking at the floor.

Neville knelt down and took the little elf's chin in his hands and pulled her face up so she was looking at him. "Sparkle, I've told you before, you need never never never apologize for taking care of Lady Luna or Lady Ginny before seeing to my needs. Those two are the most important people in the whole world to me and their needs come before mine. Do you understand?" Neville asked.

"Yes, Master Neville, but Lady Ginny be saying Master Neville and Lady Luna come first and Lady Luna be saying Master Neville and Lady Ginny come first and Master Neville be saying Lady Ginny and Lady Luna come first and it confuses all us elves!" Sparkle was looking at the ground again and was in tears by the time she had finished talking.

Neville pondered this for a moment and considering what he knew of house elves, could understand why this would be so stressful for them. He once again touched the little elf's chin and gently pulled her face up so they were looking at each other again. "Sparkle, it is I who should be apologizing to you and the other elves," Neville began, but paused as Sparkle gasped, "Yes, Sparkle. I should apologize to you and the other elves. Lady Ginny, Lady Luna and I did not know we had been giving all of you contradictory instructions. I will discuss this with Lady Ginny and Lady Luna so there will be no further confusion. As Lord Longbottom, I have a responsibility to protect the life, health and happiness of all under my protection. This includes you and all of the Longbottom house elves," Neville paused for a moment to let Sparkle regain her composure.

Sparkle, tears falling in rivers from her eyes said, "Master Neville is as great a master as an elf could wish for! Sparkle was afraid you would punish her and instead you apologize to me." She reached out and hugged Neville.

Neville patted her on the back and continued. "Now Sparkle, I have a secret you can share with the other elves and when you share it, you speak with my voice. Do you understand?" Neville asked.

Sparkle pulled away from Neville and nodded her head while wiping her nose with a handkerchief from her tabard. "I understand, Master Neville," she said.

"Good," Neville said with a smile. "Lady Ginny and Lady Luna both took fertility potions this afternoon and I suspect they are now both pregnant," Neville began to explain but Sparkle unknowingly cut him off.

"Yes, Master Neville. Lady Ginny is with two and Lady Luna is with one," Sparkle nodded with a big smile on her face.

Neville was stunned for a moment. "Sparkle, on this matter you will speak to the house elves with my voice. Lady Ginny and Lady Luna are most important to me and therefore to the house elves and every other member of House Longbottom. Their lives, health, safety and happiness are to be held in the highest regard. At least one house elf is to be with each of them at all times," Neville said authoritatively. "I, Lord Longbottom, do demand of House Longbottom. So mote it be," he swore.

Sparkle stood at attention for a moment with her eyes closed. She opened them and nodded. "All the Longbottom house elves is now knowing this, Master Neville Lord Longbottom," she said.

Neville nodded. "Thank you, Sparkle. You are a dutiful, hard-working elf and I appreciate the work you do," he said.

Sparkle hugged Neville again, saying "Master Neville is the greatest Master!" She then released Neville, stood at attention once more and said, "Sparkle will be the best house elf she can be for the Great Master Neville!" and popped out.

Though no one was outside to witness it, the wards pulsed purple again with their now well-defined orders.

=o=o=

Neville lay out his mat and sat on the floor. He closed his eyes and began his relaxation exercises to take his mind off the revelations of the day. He reached his center and began his vision exercises. While Trelawney was a hack at teaching, Luna was the real deal. Her capability at Seeing would be legendary if she ever chose to speak of it publicly. Judging by the way people reacted to prophecies, however, he was certain that if her ability ever became to be known by the general wizarding population that she would be hunted down and inspected, experimented upon and ultimately destroyed, as was explained to him by Great Uncle Algernon.

Neville cleared his mind and entered a deep trance.

Men and women in nearly-white gray cloaks standing in a circle around a tower of silver. One in the group has a white line of magic running to someone else unseen and far away. Another of their group entering the tower, never to leave. The scene repeats until the last tower and one cloaked woman; the one with the line of magic. She enters the tower and an indescribably powerful pulse climbs from all the towers and reaches skyward. A smaller pulse follows the white line. The main pulse reaches to the very edge of space and domes over and races back to the earth at tremendous speed. The lesser pulse follows the white line back to a sleeping girl about 4 years of age, surrounds her and is absorbed by her and disappears within her. The main pulse passes through the towers and into the earth, forming a dome at the very core of the planet before coming back up to the ground and winking out at the top of the towers. The calling is successful but the binding was not complete. The Called came and stayed, but there is a hole in the vessel.

Two girls sat on the end of a bed, exchanged rings. They briefly kissed and a bond began forming between them. The thin blue line of bonding ran between the two, denoting life-long friendship. One was young of soul and one was ancient.

The father told the daughter to weaken the walls or her bonded would die. She saw the walls weakened. The point of view shifted. If the older soul was ancient, this perspective was one of incomprehensible age. Ollivander's family had been making wands now for nearly twenty-four hundred years. This perspective made that time period a blink of an eye. This remembered the forming of the stars, the sun, the earth and the moon, the changing of the eras. This remembered the birth of magic here and communicated with others of Its kind across the voids of space and time. It had once been the guardian of man, but men were too numerous to remain healthy and It had become the guardian of magic.

It had heard a call and been freely bound to the places where It was. It had been asleep for several ages of man.

A young girl had used the memory of the dance to awaken It. It had prevented her from harming herself and instead touched her and changed her so she would believe she had accomplished her goal. It had deemed her and her bond mate worthy of Its attention and changed her so all with ill will would see what she had been led to believe from It.

They came, as It knew they would, with destruction on their minds, hatred in their hearts and darkness in their souls. Although It considered them children, It considered them damaged beyond repair and deemed the return of their soiled souls unsafe. So when they came and opened themselves to It, It reached out almost reflexively and snuffed them out. It had failed, however, to take into account the effects that occurred due to the linking of their souls. For when It snuffed them out, the release of their connected, concentrated magic was so great that sending the magic upwards was not enough. It was forced to send the released energy outwards as well. A wave of fiery destruction rippled out for miles outward and upward. It stretched as much as It could to contain the energy without harming Its charges. This would cause the event to come to the attention of man's children. And magic must be protected, regardless of the cost.

Neville awoke with a start. He lifted his visions journal and began writing everything he saw in raw form. He reread the entries eight times before he was satisfied he had written everything as he had Seen the events unfold. He felt utterly drained as he finished the ninth read-through. He looked at the grandfather clock the Potter-Blacks had given him as a "just-because" gift and noted it was just before four in the morning. He closed his journal and pressed his fingertips to his temples in an attempt to fend off the coming headache. It never worked so he didn't really know why he bothered. He resigned himself to wait until later to discuss his visions with Luna and Ginny. Luna might know the meanings of some of it. Ginny frequently was able to pick things apart and associate things which were Seen into real-world events, places or people. He would also discuss it with Hermione, once Luna and Ginny suggested it, of course. It was always better to have your wives tell you to go spend hours alone in a locked room with a beautiful witch than to do so on your own.

He walked upstairs, entered the master suite and opened the bureau. He removed a Drought of Dreamless Sleep and tossed it back, savoring the flavor of vanilla and cherry which Daphne had somehow managed to mix into the potion. As the wizarding wireless jingle went, if you were pants at potions, get them from Potter's.

He removed his slippers and dropped his robe to the floor and heard the quiet snapping of fingers. His wand was in his hand in less than a blink of an eye as he whirled to find the noise. Neville saw Jester hold his finger to his lips in the universal gesture of "Be Quiet" while he pointed at the two sleeping witches with his other hand. Neville nodded then looked around the room noting that Tinkle, Tanker and Clocks were also in the room although Tinkle and Clocks seemed to be asleep on house elf-sized beds. Neville put his wand under the right-most pillow, gently sat down on the right side of the bed and lay down. He slowly and gingerly scooted over until he was spooning into Luna again. He closed his eyes and fell into a restful sleep almost immediately.


	5. The Fall of Malfoy Manor

Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, receive monetary or other compensation from these works nor do I profit from them in any way other than the enjoyment I personally derive from developing these stories. All characters, locations and situations existing within the universe of Harry Potter, not existing in the real world, are the properties of their respective copyright holders. I am just borrowing them from time to time and carefully leaving the keys in the basket by the door and the petrol tank topped off. I also carefully hang up Hermione's, Luna's, Lavender's, Padma's and Parvati's (and any other ladies') robes when they have been removed to keep them from wrinkling.

WARNING: Relationships may not be what they seem. If there is something unusual going on, you will know it from the notes at the beginning of a chapter. Fair warning though, if polyamorous relationships are a squick for you, these are not the droids you're looking for.

-oOoOo-

41 kilometers East of Llanon, United Kingdom, 39 kilometers South Southwest of Newtown, United Kingdom, Malfoy Manor; 2:23 am UTC July 18, 2000

The ward alarms awoke everyone in the house except Lucius, who had already been awake, reviewing his plans in his study. Someone had come calling and they weren't here for a polite, social call. Draco, wand in hand, was peering out through his bedroom window. The wards were being struck by volley after volley of reductos and Avada Kadavras. In a few minutes, the wards would be glowing incandescent with the amount of spell fire striking them. Although they were the best Goblin-cast wards gold could acquire, even they would be unable to withstand this barrage for more than a few hours.

A house elf popped into the room. "Master Draco! Lord Lucius orders babies away. Yous must all leave nows!"

"Tasket, you and Tisket get the children ready for travel," Draco commanded. The house elf popped out.

"Who is attacking us, Draco?" Pansy asked in a panic. She had never seen this kind of spell barrage before.

"Does it matter? It's clear they want to kill us. While I would like to know who it is as well, I don't want to be here when the wards are breached," Tracey said, looking at Draco piercingly.

"Ladies, have the elves pack whatever items you want to keep and get ready to go," Draco said and took hold of Pansy and Tracey and kissed them. "When I am ready, we will be leaving," Draco said resolutely.

"Tisket," Draco called.

Tisket and Tasket popped in at the same time. Tisket had his twin daughters in her arms and Tasket had his son in a carrier on his back. Tasket pulled Tisket over to Draco. "Tisket, Tasket, if you feel the wards weaken more than half-way, you are to pop my wives, my children and I away from here. Do you both understand?" Draco asked.

The two house elves nodded vehemently.

"Good. Tisket, please stay with Pansy. Tasket, please stay with Tracey," he then turned to his wives. "Ladies, I am going to talk with Father and Mother. I shall return here shortly." Draco turned and left the room without looking back.

"Snicker!" Pansy shouted. Pansy's house elf popped in.

"Snicker, pack all of the items I showed you last week as well as all my clothing in the closet into trunks and pop them to Gringott's," Pansy explained.

"Yes, Master Draco's Miss Pansy," the little elf said as he began packing a number of items in the room into a trunk the appeared next to the busy elf.

Tracey nodded, "You planned for an evacuation. That is excellent," she said to Pansy.

"I learned from the best," Pansy said with a smirk. The facade of calm rapidly crumbled, however and Pansy ran to Tracey crying. Tracey wrapped the younger witch up in an embrace.

"It will be alright, Little Love. We have house elves around us to pop us out in the unlikely event they get through the wards. Knowing the way Lord Malfoy's mind works, there are contingencies within contingencies. Our job is to insure the household remains intact enough to function after losing the manor. Crying won't accomplish that now. You can melt into a little puddle after we're in a private, warded room somewhere safe," Tracey said. Pansy looked up into Tracey's eyes and Tracey took this opportunity to move their relationship closer by giving her a passionate kiss.

Pansy's eyes widened in surprise but then closed as she tentatively returned the kiss.

Tracey pushed the younger witch away. "And we'll do more of that as well. Right now, we have to pack!" Tracey said with a hint of promise in her exclamation, "And whomever is out there will have to kill me first before they touch My Pansy." If looks could kill, Tracey's gaze would vaporize every single magic user who dared attack the wards.

Tracey brought herself down to earth again. "Doodles!" she exclaimed. A house elf wearing pocket-covered fatigues appeared. "Doodles, pack the house. Involve all house elves not specifically involved with Master Draco, Master Lucius, Mistress Narcissa or Mistress Pansy. If any other elves are also packing the house, let me know immediately. Once a trunk is packed, it is to be shrunk and placed in a master trunk. Once a master trunk is full, it is to be popped to Gringott's for storage. If I call you again, you will need to immediately pop to my side. Do you understand?" she asked the elf in a terse manner.

"Mistress Tracey, Doodles understands and will carry out your orders. Doodles has fourteen house elves working on the orders already knowing theys coming, Mistress Tracey," the elf barked out, and stood as if he were at attention.

"Carry on, Doodles," Tracey said. The house elf popped away.

-oOoOo-

Draco knocked at his father's study door where he could hear Lucius and Narcissa having a rather boisterous discussion.

"This is preposterous. Where are the aurors? Where's the Chosen One? There are dozens of them out there..." Narcissa was cut off by Draco's knock on the door jam. They both turned to look at their son.

"More like hundreds, Mother. I would say two to three hundred. Quite possibly every fanatical, living death eater is upon Corsal Hill. As we have no other allies other than the elves, there is probably little we can do except hope they don't have enough energy reserves to break through," Draco explained. "As far as Potter is concerned, I imagine he is still somewhat preoccupied with trying to procreate. It is, after all, what I was doing when we were so rudely interrupted," he said with a raised eyebrow directed at his parents, bringing a rosy hue to Narcissa's face and a self-satisfied smirk to Lucius.

"Be that is it may..." she was once again interrupted, this time by Lucius.

"Well, I suppose that does change the equations somewhat. Narcissa, what are you still doing here? Get the elves to packing the house and once that is done, take the keys and go to Gringott's. I still have allies there. Well-paid allies who will keep us safe from the ministry and the vermin outside," Lucius said. He then turned to Draco. "What are you doing here? You should be overseeing your wives' work."

"Overseeing my wives work is nearly as sure a way to die as pulling a wand on a goblin within Gringott's, Father, though not nearly as quick or painless as the goblins would manage," He chuckled evilly. "Besides, watching Mother's house elves clash with my house elves and Tracey's house elves over who packs what would be too amusing to watch and Pansy would tear my arms off and beat me senseless with the wet end for laughing at their antics," Draco said the last while pantomiming being hit repeatedly with a squishing, slurping object every few seconds.

Even Lucius smiled at this, while Narcissa was scowling, trying her best not to laugh as well.

Lucius' face took on one of contemplation. "Narcissa, as Lord Malfoy, I am instructing you to take this satchel of vault keys and leave immediately for Gringott's. Draco, the elves with your children shall accompany Narcissa to the bank. They will leave now!" Lucius ordered, looking between the two of them.

Narcissa looked down at her shoes. "As my husband commands," she said quietly.

Draco met his father's eyes and nodded. "Tisket! Tasket! The two elves popped in with their infant burden and two very surprised young women.

Before the elves or women could speak, Draco cut them off. "Tisket, Tasket, you are to take Lady Malfoy, my children and my wives to Gringott's immediately."

Pansy and Tracey both opened their mouths to speak. Lucius cut them off. "There will be no arguments. Your presence is not needed here and you would only be a distraction to Draco and I, slowing us in the tasks we need to have accomplished."

"Doodles!" Tracey yelled. The pocket-covered house elf appeared.

"Yes Mistress Tracey?" the elf asked.

"You and the rest of the elves have two hours left to pack or until the wards fall or until Lord Malfoy orders you to leave. You are all to leave then and are to pop to Gringott's. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Mistress Tracey," the little elf said and popped away.

Lucius looked at Tracey in exasperation and roared, "Tisket, Tasket, now means NOW!" He would walk through the fires of the seven levels of Hell for his grandchildren, his wife, his beautiful daughters-in-law and his son, not that he'd let Draco or his daughters-in-law know that tidbit of information.

The two elves blurred into action. Tisket took Narcissa's hand, Tasket grabbed hold of Tracey and Pansy and all eight of them popped out of the room, leaving Lucius and Draco alone in the study listening as the remaining house elves continued packing the last-minute items from the manor.

"Why is it women act like such emotional fools at times?" Lucius asked rhetorically.

Draco, however, chose to answer his father. "Probably because some man is being an idiot and not giving them all of the information to make an informed decision," Draco responded, giving his father a pointed look.

Lucius chuckled. "Yes, well, be that as it may, we have work to do before we can greet our guests properly," Lucius said.

Draco simply nodded and reviewed the checklists on Lucius' desk that they had been previously working from.

Draco began working from the list with his name at the top. "Snippy!" Draco called, and yet another house elf appeared. "Snippy, you are apparently my emergency escape elf. If you sense the wards fall, pop me to Gringott's immediately," Draco calmly told the newly-arrived elf.

"Yes, Mister Draco. I is doing as you say," Snippy said and immediately got close enough to Draco to touch him yet stayed out of his way.

It was then that he noticed Coopa, his father's personal elf, was doing the same with Lucius. Draco began walking to the entryway of the manor, occasionally stopping at seeming random points and checking the red and a blue potions located on a formerly disillusioned shelf. He then removed the spells from the potion jars which kept them from breaking open on impact, recast the disillusionment charm and moved to the next seemingly random location. Somehow his godfather, Severus Snape, had determined a method of creating a fiendfyre-like effect by mixing these two potions together. For the right price, Severus had made his father several dozen pairs of the potions. Lucius had then placed them strategically around the manor to assist the conflagration he had planned in the event someone attempted to take the ancestral home from his family, regardless of who came calling. While Draco was focused on his task, he noticed a number of the elves packing and shrinking various items from the manor, including the polished marble slabs lining the entryway. In their place, the elves were laying down a quick-drying, white slurry he recognized as an incendiary stone. When ignited, it would become somewhat liquified and hold in place anything or anyone standing on its surface. It would even prevent apparation unless the person didn't mind splinching their feet off. _Father is leaving __nothing to chance, it would seem,_ he thought.

Finished with his potions task, Draco looked down at his list. The next item would take some finesse that could not merely be entrusted to a house elf. Not even one of Snippy's obvious skill. "To the basement, Snippy," Draco said. The house elf popped them both to the bottom of the stairs leading to the basement.

Through his muggle connections (Lucius was never truly a blood-purist, just an elitist, arrogant ass), Lucius had purchased a number of large terracotta urns that were glazed on the exterior but left porous on the interior. These man-sized urns were placed under major structural members of the wooden beams supporting the house.

Each urn had been carefully placed and generously filled with a rather odd potion, as Draco thought of it. Two parts finely-powdered sulfur, seventy-two parts finely ground, red hematite mixed with twenty-eight parts powdered aluminium, and finally twenty-nine parts barium nitrate, mixed in at the very end, very cautiously. Draco involuntarily shuddered at the memory of working with Severus to make this final ingredient. No one would ever believe that the dour potions master destroyed more cauldrons in one week than Longbottom had in seven years of potions. Cast on each urn was a preservation charm. Just above the mouth of each were a pair of vials containing the two parts of the fiendfyre potion, also with preservation charms cast upon them. Draco was here to insure the charms remained in place and had not been tampered with or weakened in some way.

Draco spent no more than half a minute checking each of the hundred urns.

With the last item checked off his list, he returned to Lucius' study to find Lucius had just checked off the next-to-the-last item on his list.

Lucius walked into the safe in his study. It was really a vault, but he did not like to think of it as such. He carefully set the dials on the GubraithianFunerium.

Lucius pulled a lever on the device, connecting the timer on the magical crematorium device to the wards surrounding the manor. Once the wards fell, activation of the device was irreversible. He almost wished he could stay to watch the fools prattle about in their mad dash of realization.

He checked off the item from his list and verified all items were now checked off.

He looked at Draco's list and noted it, too, was complete.

"Draco," Lucius said, "it is time for us to depart and let the rabble loot and pillage."

"Yes Father," Draco responded with a wry smile, having some idea of what would happen when the attackers entered.

"Coopa, Snippy, signal to the remainder of the elves that the manor and its lands are to be abandoned and they are to pop to Gringotts. You may take us to Gringotts once that is done," Lucius commanded the two elves.

Coopa and Snippy closed their eyes for a moment and called out to the other elves still in and around the manor. All responded with an affirmative. "Alls done, Master Malfoy," Coopa said. The two elves popped their charges to the lobby of Gringotts.

-oOoOo-

Rudolphus Lestrange and Antonin Dolohov stood on a hill East of Malfoy Manor, surveying the progress of the attack. The dome of the wards over the manor was alight as if on fire. It had glowed through all the colors of the rainbow and now pulsed a bright blue, the intensity of which rose with each spell striking it.

The host of nearly five hundred marked and unmarked wizards and witches had been firing curses at the wards for two days. Already more than half of them had exhausted their magical cores and were laying in wizarding tents around the area, recharging their energy in the event the wards were unexpectedly strong.

"I would have thought they would fight back, or at least call for parlay," Dolohov said, gesturing towards the manor with his hand.

"Malfoy has the best wards on his manor the goblins would sell. He likely thinks he's invincible inside," Lestrange responded, an evil chuckle punctuating his comment.

"We'll demonstrate to him how far from reality that is," Dolohov said.

The dome had begun expanding as the spell fire continued. The energies being absorbed were causing the wards to bleed enough energy to cause the air near the dome to ignite violently.

Suddenly, an earth-shattering rumble drowned out all other sounds as the wards fell. A massive backwash of magic washed over the gathered host. Those who had been casting were the recipients of the backlash and fell to the ground in convulsions.

Once the wave of distorted magic receded, Dolohov pointed his wand at his throat and cast a sonorus. "Siege teams to your positions. We enter the manor in two minutes," he said, then canceled the sonorus. This was the signal for the hundred-odd marked followers kept in reserve to apparate to the edge of the ward boundary.

"Rudolphus, I will be back with our prisoners shortly," Dolohov said, shaking hands with his comrade.

"Try to keep the women and children alive for later entertainment," Lestrange said, "I want some intimate fun as well, Antonin, as well as a bit of revenge for Bella."

Dolohov nodded and then apparated to the edge of where the wards had stood. The followers gathered on him and walked towards the main entrance to the manor. Smaller groups had apparated to be near the various other known exits from the manor to insure no one escaped.

"While I don't expect anyone inside to be coherent enough to apparate, just to be safe, put up our anti-apparation and portkey wards," Dolohov said to his lieutenant. Five wizards raised the ordered wards. No one would be getting out of the manor via magical means. Dolohov nodded to the men in approval.

Still meeting no resistance, the Death Eaters entered the foyer of Malfoy Manor. "Find the blood traitors. Take them alive if possible. Kill them as painfully as possible otherwise," Dolohov ordered. He then grabbed the nearest recruit.

"Go tell Lord Lestrange that we have entered. He is on the hill to the East," Dolohov instructed the recruit. She nodded and ran out the entryway to the hill in question.

Dolohov remained in the foyer to coordinate the capture while the remaining men and women searched the manor.

Another recruit came running into the entryway from deeper within the manor. "Sir! We've found a vault in what appears to be Malfoy's study!" the recruit said in an attempt to ingratiate himself with the former inner-circle death eater.

"Well, take me there," Dolohov ordered. The recruit nodded, turned and began walking quickly back to Lucius' study.

They entered the study and the recruit pointed at the thick door, clearly left open in haste.

Dolohov walked up to the door of the safe and peered inside. There were bookshelves, most of which stood empty, racks of potions, a few covered paintings, some rolled tapestries and other items. A motion caught his eye and he turned to look at the large wooden box covered in dials. He instantly recognized it and fear gripped him.

"Run! Get out! NOW!" he yelled as he turned to run. It was too late. The dial had just moved from nine to eight.

A GubraithianFunerium was designed to provide an eternal funeral flame for the dearly departed. It was, in effect, a tunable, stored spell sequence. It could burn a mild flame, about the size of a house elf, for two hundred years. It could burn a fire the size of a pipe match for thousands of years. The amount of time the Funerium was active dictated how large a flame it would burn. Lucius had set it to burn for fifteen minutes.

The dial rolled to Seven. The death eater recruits within earshot turned to run. Dolohov was halfway turned around.

Six. The recruit Dolohov had ordered to update Rudolphus had just reached the top of the hill where he was waiting.

Five. Dolohov was at the threshold of the vault and continued screaming "Run!" as frantically as was possible. The anti-apparation wards they had put up when the manor wards fell were the very things that were going to kill him. The spells on the urns were triggered. The two potion bottles atop each shattered, causing the potions to mix. The disillusioned shelves with the potions released from the walls, causing the vials to fall and shatter, mixing their contents to add to the conflagration.

Four. The death eaters and death eater recruits who heard Dolohov began panicking and heading towards the entryway, only to find their escape suddenly blocked by fires. If Dolohov was frightened, it must be unimaginably horrific. The fiendfyre from the potions in the urns ignited with, had anyone been looking, a white-hot flash. The fires beginning to burn in the hallways and the entryway flared into life.

Three. The Funerium began to glow yellow. No one saw this, however, as everyone nearby was running like rats from a sinking ship. Dolohov had made it to the door of Lucius' study. Others were just beginning to turn and run themselves. On the hill to the East, Rudolphus had a self-satisfied smirk on his face. "The blood traitors will be wish they had not betrayed our Lord," he thought. The contents of the urns began burning at over twenty-five hundred degrees Celsius; the urns channeling the fire within upwards towards the support beams above.

Two. The glow from the Funerium was becoming incandescent. The tapestries hanging on the walls of Lucius' study began smoldering, the paint on the walls began blackening from the heat. Dolohov could feel the back of his scalp burning and his clothes burning into his back and legs. Other death eaters who had been in Lucius' study were screaming as their eyeballs burst and their hair burned. Rudolphus noted a single window in the manor glowing as brightly as the noon day sun. He also saw the orange flicker of flames in some of the other windows. Like blow torches, each urn was cutting through the beam above at an incredible rate.

One. The air temperature in Lucius' study reached two thousand degrees Celsius, causing a shockwave that began to radiate outwards. Dolohov, who had made it less than five meters from the study door was incinerated, as were the other death eaters still in the study. The walls of the study vaporized, adding to the shockwave. Rudolphus began to throw his arm in front of his face to shield his eyes from the rapidly brightening glow. He began yelling an anguished "No!" The shockwave propagated through the manor as a wave front, not following the hallways or doorways, but radiating outward from the Funerium. All of the support beams above the urns burned through and the fires burst through the floor.

Zero. Even as it began to fall from the lack of support beams, the manor house blew skyward. The fireball blew outward ten meters beyond the edge of the structure in all directions. The thermal pulse caused everyone within twenty meters of the house to be carbonized. All of the death eaters waiting on the hill above the manor were knocked off their feet by the overpressured blast of air. The fireball continued to grow until it reached the boundary of the former wards.

True to form, the Funerium burned everything and anything within the fire field's boundaries, down to the granite foundation stones, for fifteen minutes. The fire was dazzlingly white hot. The nature of the magic of the Funerium prevented a conventional explosion and held all the destruction to within a sphere whose diameter was based on the duration of the burn. In this particular case, the Funerium had been specifically ordered by Lucius as a means to kill anyone within the boundaries of the manor building when set for its shortest burn time. In this, he succeeded most effectively.

Of the five hundred and eleven death eaters and unmarked recruits brought to the felling of the wards, ninety-two had died as a result of the destruction of the manor. Rudolphus ordered the remaining forces to apparate or use their port keys. Nothing, he knew, was going to survive this devastation.

Once the Funerium completed its set duration of burn, the magic was consumed. Under normal circumstances, set for a long duration, the flame would simply flicker out. In this particular case, when the Funerium's magic was complete, it left behind a disc of white-hot lime two hundred meters in diameter. Since the wards had collapsed, and the magic of the Funerium exhausted, muggle military satellites showed a frightening anomaly in Wales.

-oOoOo-

1 kilometers East of Bordon, United Kingdom, Oakhanger, United Kingdom, Skynet 4 Oakhanger Telemetry and Command Station; 4:18 am UTC July 20, 2000

Flight Sergeant Niles Broadmoore was bored, as usual, and had stood up to stretch just as an alarm sounded on his console and a map overlay displayed over the live imagery coming from Skynet 4D. The words "Thermal Anomaly" blinked white on a red background at the top of his screen. He immediately sat down and pulled up the coordinates of the anomaly the computer identified. This had happened several times in the past when some widget or gizmo had gone wildly out of calibration, but 4D had just undergone a complete health check days before.

When the coordinates appeared, shock was the first reaction. _Bloody hell! That's Wales!_ he thought.

He reached over and slapped the red mushroom button between his station and the next. This was no drill and it certainly wasn't a sensor gone awry. But there was a protocol for this and he followed it, beginning diagnostics on the sensors which measured planetary surface temperature.

Ninety seconds later, a disheveled Lieutenant Commander Malcolm Grindley entered the room. "You do realize it's bloody four in the morning, don't you, Sergeant? What's the emergency?"

"Yes, Sir. We have a large thermal anomaly in Wales, sir. Telemetry indicates a nearly perfect circle, two hundred meters in diameter at North fifty-two degrees, twelve minutes, forty-two seconds, West three degrees, thirty-two minutes, forty-five seconds. Thermal sensors indicate surface temperature exceeds twenty-five hundred degrees C. Thermal gradient is flat, indicating edge-to-edge temperature differs less than ten degrees C. I have already run cursory diagnostics on the thermal sensors on unit 4D and no errors were found. I was in the process of directing the sensors of 4E at the site to confirm the anomaly. Sir!"

"Carry on, Sergeant. Good work," Grindley said, looking over the sergeant's shoulder. "When 4E has acquisition of the target location, let me know. I am just going to grab a cup," and walked over to the coffee urn.

"Yes sir," the sergeant replied.

Grindley poured his cup of coffee, topped it with a dash of cream and savored the rich bitterness. He drained the cup and was about to pour a second one when the sergeant called him back over.

"Sir! Readings from 4E confirm findings from 4D," the sergeant said, continuing to type commands on his console and waiting for the minute-long delay between sending the satellite the instructions and the confirmation the satellite had received and was executing those instructions.

"Sir, diagnostics of the thermal sensors on 4E indicate no errors found. Radiation detectors on both 4D and 4E show no anomalies. What the hell could cause something like that, sir?" the sergeant asked.

Grindley picked up the telephone then looked at the sergeant's display once more. "I have no idea whatsoever, Sergeant," he said and dialed a seven-digit number.

"Sir, this is Lieutenant Commander Malcolm Grindley at Oakhanger. We have a Code Alpha incident", Grindley spoke into the telephone. "Yes, Sir! Specifics are as follows, Sir," as Grindley repeated the location and nature of the issue. He paused a moment. "No Sir! This is definitely not a hoax. Yes, Sir. I can be reached at Oakhanger nine, zed, seven, zed, zed, six." He paused to listen further. "Yes sir! Good morning to you as well, Sir." Grindley replaced the handset onto its cradle.

The sergeant was looking at Grindley clearly thinking he preferred it that Grindley spoke to the ranking officers and the sergeant spoke to the satellites.

"Sergeant, do us a favor and start a fresh urn of coffee. The day crew is going to be coming in a bit early this morning," Grindley said in a friendly tone of voice.

"When should we be expecting them, Sir?" the sergeant asked.

Grindley rubbed his face with both hands and looked up at the clock. "In about twenty minutes, Sergeant."

While some might think the day crew starting early would mean getting out on time, Sergeant Broadmoore had been in the Service long enough to know it just meant his shift was not going to be over any time soon. He walked towards the urn to begin the makings of a fresh batch of coffee. He had a feeling he was going to need it.

-oOoOo-

1 kilometers East of Bordon, United Kingdom, Oakhanger, United Kingdom, Skynet 4 Oakhanger Telemetry and Command Station; 4:52 am UTC July 18, 2000

"Late as usual. They tell you twenty minutes and it'll be the start of their shift when they stroll in," Grindley said to the sergeant.

Four Redcaps came through the door with weapons out and charged, surprising both men. The RMPs looked around the room, yelled "Clear" to the outside corridor, yelled "ATTENTION!" and then braced to attention, barring the double doors from closing.

Grindley and Broadmoore, both of whom had been talking at Broadmoore's console, braced to attention as well.

Air Chief Marshall Sir Peter Squire walked into the room with a Group Captain, as well as a Brigadier and two Colonels from the Royal Army. There was also an older, distinguished gentleman wearing a suit who looked as if he was about to model Huntsman and had a face few were likely to not know due to his numerous appearances on television and news print.

"Please stand at ease, Gentlemen," Sir Squire said.

As Grindley and Broadmoore stood an ounce more relaxed, they were both consciously concentrating on their breathing. While they had read articles about this man, neither had ever had an opportunity to see, much less be in the same room with him.

"Ted, let's get these two men out of here to where we can speak with them and let the day crew take over information gathering for us," the Duke of Wales said.

"Yes, Your Highness," the Air Chief Marshall said. He then turned to the two. "Sergeant, Commander, shall we move our discussion to the conference room at the end of the hall so we can get out of the way of your relief?" he asked rhetorically and gestured for them to follow him.

Both the sergeant and the lieutenant commander were still somewhat suffering from shock but followed on behind.

As the general staff left the room, the room became ordered chaos as the day shift poured in, filling every station with a few doubled up and began their data collection. Their operations commander and the two RA Colonels stayed in the room.

-oOoOo-

Closing notes for this chapter:

I have seen far too many stories wherein dramatic, earth-shattering events in the magical world had little or no effect on the mundane world. As you can likely tell from this story so far, I don't subscribe to the "Blind Muggle" theory.


	6. Out of the Frying Pan

Disclaimer: All characters, locations and situations existing within the universe of Harry Potter, not existing in the real world, are the properties of their respective copyright holders. I am just borrowing them from time to time and carefully leaving the keys in the basket by the door and the petrol tank topped off.

Author's Note: I wasn't pleased with this chapter as it seemed too short to me and ended at an odd point.

Chapter 6

Office of the Director, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Ministry of Magic, London, England; 5:09 am UTC July 20,2000

DMLE Director Michael Talbert was troubled.

A strike team of six aurors had apparated to just outside the wards of Malfoy manor when the alarm went out indicating the wards on Malfoy Manor fell. In less than a second, all of the strike team members' emergency portkeys activated, depositing them in St Mungo's and causing a near panic as well as an automatic deployment of two backup teams to the site. All six members of the first strike team had arrived badly burned over the entire front of their bodies, as if they had been held in a fire pit facedown for several minutes. If they were still alive when they arrived at St Mungo's, none of them lasted long enough for a healer to get to them. Two minutes later, the second and third strike teams' emergency portkeys deposited them into St Mungo's in the same condition.

Senior Auror William "Bill" Jameson and Unspeakable David Martins had then formed a twelve-person team and apparated to four different locations, the closest of which was two miles from the manor; the farthest four miles from the manor. Each of the four teams was comprised of one Unspeakable and two Aurors. Jameson and Martins were in two different groups. All four groups followed their assigned instructions and reconnoitered the area as they short-distance apparated closer to where the wards had been. As each of the teams got within a quarter mile of the still-molten circle, it was clear what had caused the injuries to the previous eighteen aurors.

When Jacobsen came into view of the circle, he sent up three bright blue balls into the air, calling the other three teams to his location.

-oOoOo-

Talbert was at St Mungo's feeling helpless but wanting to demonstrate his support for his Auror corp. He stood at the end of a hall with two of his advisors. "_What would Amelia have done in this situation? What would Mad-Eye have done in this situation?"_ the Director thought and then answered his own question, "_They would have done exactly what we have done; send in multiple teams of more senior staff at a greater distance to better assess the situation."_ He nodded to himself then focused on the healer walking towards him.

"Healer Billings, what news of my Aurors?" Talbert asked. Talbert could tell by Billings' demeanor it was not good news.

"Director, I wish I had good news. I'm afraid I have no idea what killed them. All of the Aurors from the first team died before we could even treat them. Of the second and third groups, two of them survived for a few moments, but they never had a chance," the healer said. "Based on what we saw, whatever these Aurors faced which caused this damage to them was beyond their bodies' and magics' ability to cope with the damage they were taking. It almost appears as if someone was casting Incendio at them at wand-touching range. I don't know what spell was used to do this damage, but if we find out, you will see me petitioning the Wizengamot to have it classed as an Unforgivable," Billings completed.

"_Eighteen dead. For Godric's sake, is the war starting up again?"_ Talbert thought.

"Thank you, George. Do what you can. Let me know if there's anything you need which would help you identify the cause of their deaths," Talbert said.

Billings simply nodded then turned around and walked back to the ward where the charred bodies of eighteen Aurors lay.

-oOoOo-

The four groups of Aurors and Unspeakables had gathered on the hill to the East overlooking the hellish circle where Malfoy Manor had once stood.

"Alright, now that we're all here, does anyone have any idea what could have caused this?" Jameson asked.

"I have not seen, heard nor read about anything that could cause this kind of damage without causing significant damage to the outlying area. The only thing I am aware of which could cause this would have stripped the surrounding area for miles and that would have been a muggle device," Martins explained.

"Do you think Malfoy managed to annoy the muggles enough to do this?" Jameson asked, looking back and forth, surveying the site.

"No. For two reasons: First, the muggles don't have anything which would cause such a specific amount of thermal damage and second, if the muggle government were attacking Malfoy Manor, one of my people would have known about it," Martins explained. He thought for a moment while also looking around to determine if there were any tell-tale signs of possible causes before continuing, "This is most likely of magical origin. What caused it, we may never know. Perhaps it was some sort of suicide device Malfoy had set up," he paused as all of the men with him looked at him as if he were crazy. "Consider Lucius Malfoy is a known death eater who, in the final battle with Voldemort, changed sides, killing not only fourteen of the core death eaters, but also killing Voldemort's familiar. There are certainly enough death eaters and their supporters out there who would wish him harm. What level of spell power would it require to take down Goblin-cast wards around the primary residence of the head of a Noble Family?"he asked, looking around at the men who each gave various non-verbal indications they had no idea. "Then consider all of the charred bodies down there," Martins continued, pointing towards the area surrounding the molten pool, "and finally consider the manor house itself was in the middle of that. It makes me wonder how many wizards and witches were firing spells at the wards," he said.

"I would estimate dozens if not hundreds," Jameson commented.

"I would agree towards the higher end; probably hundreds considering I am counting twenty-three bodies down there; people we'll never be able to identify other than as magic user one through magic user twenty-three," Martins responded.

One of the Unspeakables whose primary responsibility was to maintain an up-to-date understanding of muggle technologies spoke up, breaking the group out of its silent thoughtfulness. "Gentlemen, we have a bigger problem. Consider there are no wards around this area now. Even ten times the amount of people as the twelve of us combined aren't powerful enough to raise the wards required to hide this destruction and the muggles will see it shortly if they don't already know about it," he said, somewhat panicked.

Martins was about to ask how the muggles would know about the issue when a loud, unnatural thrumming sound approached from the Southeastern sky. The group of twelve looked up to watch the large object approach in the sky. It was easily more than five times the size of a horse-drawn carriage and had an intensely bright light coming from it which seemed to cut through the haze.

"Well clearly the muggles already know about it!" Jameson shouted over the noise.

Suddenly the bright light passed over them on the ground and continued on for a moment before rapidly returning and focusing on the group of men.

"I would say that would be our cue to get out of here! No one is going to be happy about this!" Martins yelled over the approaching muggle flying device.

With that, all twelve men activated their portkeys, sending them back to the Ministry.

-oOoOo-

25 miles East of Llanon, United Kingdom, 24 miles South Southwest of Newtown, United Kingdom, in the air in the vicinity of a large, glowing hole in the ground; 5:13 am UTC July 20, 2000

"Sir! I swear to God they were standing right fucking there!" the corporal swore as the group of people standing on the ground had just disappeared.

"I saw them as well, Corporal. Mark it on your chart for the boots. We've got them on tape so the surgeons won't say any of us are crazy," the Flight Lieutenant replied back. "Let's keep our cool and watch out for anything else. The ride may get a bit rough due to the thermals."

"Rescue Seven to Rescue Eight, we are moving from Alpha-One to Bravo-One, over," the Pilot Officer said to the Pilot Officer of the second helicopter searching the area.

"Roger, Rescue Seven. We're moving from Alpha-Four to Bravo-Four. No survivors in sight. You're sure your spotters are sober, Rescue Seven? Disappearing people on the ground? Next thing you know we're going to see alien spacecraft, Rescue Eight, over," was the response.

"Well at least alien spacecraft would give a plausible explanation for that Hell Hole down there, and I am bloody well certain my spotters aren't drunk or hung over because they know I'd toss them out the door over the Channel if they were, Rescue Seven, over."

"Roger that, Rescue Seven. Rescue Eight is continuing on search pattern, over."

The two helicopters continued their grid search, but found no explanation for the destruction below before returning to base. The data they had collected resulted in more questions than answers.

-oOoOo-

"Director Talbert, until this current muggle presence disappears, sir, we will be unable to determine what happened," Jameson explained after giving his report to the Director.

"Thank you for your report, Auror," Talbert responded.

"Sir, if its all the same to you, Ferguson and Smythe were friends of mine. I would like the responsibility of notifying their families," Jameson said.

"I am sure their families would appreciate that, Bill. Please express to their families that their loss is felt by us all. On your way out, would you send Marge in, please?" Talbert asked.

"Yes sir. And thank you, sir," Jameson said and left. A few moments later Talbert's administrative assistant entered the office.

"Marge, could you please ask through the Auror corp for friends of our fallen to volunteer to make the family notifications, please?" Talbert asked her.

"I've already taken care of that sir and have the list of the men and women who will be making the notifications. I have also alerted the Goblins to prepare for ceremonies of succession and let St Mungo's know to allow the Goblin representatives to verify the deaths," Marge said, placing a piece of parchment on the desk in front of the Director.

He took a moment to look over the list. "Marge, you've taken care of me again," he said.

"Sir, the Minister is on her way over," she said.

"Thank you, Marge."

His assistant left the office. He then looked at the other two men still in the room.

"David, Algernon, how big of an issue is this going to be for the muggle government?" Talbert asked the two Unspeakables.

"Michael, we're going to have to talk to our counterparts over there," Algernon Croaker explained, "if they were able to respond with flying vehicles that quickly, the area will be saturated with them after dawn. We don't dare send anyone in there without an appropriately crafted, deep cover story. There will be no mass obliviation option available to us either because we don't even know who all has seen the site," he finished.

There was a knocking at the door as Marge let the Minister into the office as the three men stood.

"Minister Marchbanks...," Talbert began but was cut off.

"Dispense with the pleasantries, Michael. We've lost too many good men and women today and I would like to know what is going on," the Minister stated as she sat. The men sat down as well.

"Well, Griselda, it would appear we have a destroyed mansion, a molten pool of glowing rock where it stood, eighteen dead Aurors, twenty-three dead unknowns we're aware of, muggles crawling all over the grounds and absolutely no idea what caused it," the Director answered, knowing there was no point in keeping anything from this Minister.

"Eighteen dead? Their families?" she asked

"All taken care of, including the Goblins being notified," the Director responded.

"Any news of the Malfoys?" she asked.

"None, whatsoever," he responded.

"Did you check with the Goblins? I would think their wards failing would have them running around like mad," she said.

"We have not yet. We wanted to gather as much information as we could prior to invoking any of those parts of the Treaty," Talbert said.

"Michael, Algernon, you have the full authority of the Wizengamot to do whatever you need to in order to find out what happened and who is responsible. Someone has not only attacked the manor of a Lord of the Wizengamot, but said manor is destroyed and said Lord and his family are missing." She turned to the two Unspeakables. "Gentlemen, I want full cooperation between the Unspeakables and the Auror corp. I want to make myself clearly understood. There will be no mincing of words. There will be no understood misunderstandings. Your two organizations will work together as a team to get both the Wizengamot and myself answers. Is that understood?" the Minister asked, the look on her face and the wand at her side gave the men the feeling she wasn't looking for any dissension.

"Griselda, Algernon, David and I were, are and will continue to openly share information. Every man and woman in the Auror corp has been told they are to cooperate fully with the Unspeakables to get to the bottom of this matter. In fact, Senior Auror Jameson and Unspeakable Martins here," he said, indicating the younger man, "worked together tonight to gather the information we have already," he said.

"That warms my heart, Michael. I will get out of your way and keep the politics away from you," she said, getting up. The three men stood.

"Griselda, we are considering working with our counterparts in the muggle government..." Talbert began, only to be cut off.

"If there is a way to do that without alerting them to our world, I would prefer that. We would need to put it in front of the Wizengamot Committee on Secrecy if we need to openly approach the muggles, and at the sounds of it, we'd need to do it at my level. See what you can do before we have to go that route," Griselda said. The three men nodded. The Minister then turned and left the office.

Once the door closed, Croaker spoke. "Well, that went much better than I expected

-oOoOo-

25 miles East of Llanon, United Kingdom, 24 miles South Southwest of Newtown, United Kingdom, in the vicinity of a large, glowing hole in the ground; 9:13 am UTC July 20, 2000

"Sir, we've found an anomaly," Sergeant Stanton said to Major Benton, overseeing the reconnaissance operation.

"You mean other than the great glowing hole over there, Sergeant?" Lieutenant Scobbel asked sarcastically.

Stanton looked at Scobbel as if he was something to be scraped off his boot. "Yes sir! Any fool can see the glowing hole, Sir. This may be far more important," the sergeant continued, returning his attention to the major. "Sir, my men were performing rec ops in grid twelve, section Charlie-Two," he pointed to the hill to the East overlooking the site, "and discovered what, at first appearances was a crudely assembled tent. Upon closer examination sir, it appears the tent is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. We've also discovered, and marked for forensics evaluation, two oddly dressed bodies. Both appear to be male," the sergeant finished.

Scobbel appeared to be on the verge of voicing a harsh retort when the major cut him off with a look.

"Sergeant. That hill is now off-limits to all personnel except authorized forensic teams. Notify the forensics team for that grid block of both the tent and the bodies. Make sure they understand this is a Level Four situation. All data they collect is to go through either myself or Lieutenant Colonel Salmon and no one else. Do you understand, Sergeant."

"Sir! Yes Sir! Level Four. I will notify the lead of the forensics team myself, Sir!" The sergeant said then saluted.

Both Benton and Scobbel returned the salute and the sergeant left to carry out his orders.

The major waited until Stanton was out of sight and looked to insure no one else was within hearing distance and spoke to the Lieutenant in a low voice. "Barry, I don't know the details of your issues with Sergeant Stanton, but if you ever want to make Captain, you will set them aside today and never bring it up again. I was on Mount Harriet and witnessed the deeds of the man you hold in such contempt. I see in you a good leader, Barry, but this attitude towards Sergeant Stanton and any other contemptuous attitudes you may have for the enlisted ends today. If Lieutenant Colonel Salmon heard your remark today, you'd be packing a duffel right now," Major Benton said, looking hard into Scobbel's eyes.

Scobbel paled and nodded. "My apologies, Major Benton. It shall be as you order," he said and swallowed.

"Barry, while you're at it, check on the status of the buffaloes. We're going to need a hell of a lot of water to cool this down before it spreads further." Benton said then turned back to his grid map by way of dismissal.

Scobbel left, with two goals in mind.

-oOoOo-

At Gringotts, it was organized chaos, or business as usual, depending upon your perspective. Upon Lucius' arrival, the family had been led to a private office. Pansy and Tracy were looking after the feeding needs of the children. Pansy had silent tears on her face as she looked down at the little boy nursing from her breast. Tracy seemed focused on her task of nursing the twins. Narcissa was insuring the two women had the illusion of privacy. Draco was pacing. Lucius was sitting, his eyes closed, his face schooled into a countenance of collected calm. Within his mind, however, was a maelstrom of thoughts and plans, most of which were no more use to him at the moment than the pool of liquid rock his manor had become.

"Do be still, Draco. Your troll-like lumbering back and forth will be of no use to the situation. Sit down and calmly work your way through your thoughts the way your father does," Narcissa chided her son.

Draco stopped pacing and looked at his mother, his anger and frustration clearly readable on his face. He took a deep breath, nodded at his mother, closed his eyes and schooled his face to a mask of calm. "My apologies, Mother. You are, of course, correct," he said then moved to sit quietly on one of the couches.

As he sat, a goblin knocked and strode into the room and gave a small bow before Lucius. "I am Slipshank, and am the manager of ward setting and curse breaking for the London branch of Gringotts. It is with regret and apologies that I come before you after the felling of the wards we placed around your manor. Gringotts is willing to compensate you for your losses, Lord Malfoy," he said.

Lucius stood and returned the short bow, shocking everyone else in the room including Slipshank. "Manager Slipshank, you honor House Malfoy by coming in person," Lucius said in a calm voice.

"Lord Malfoy, it is my responsibility to investigate in the unlikely event our wards should fail. Do you know in what manner the wards came to fall?" Slipshank asked

"I do, indeed, know what caused them to fall. Before I tell you, House Malfoy will request some accommodations from the Goblin Nation in return for the information. This information was, after all, acquired at a considerable cost," Lucius explained.

"In addition to monetary compensation for the loss of your home," Slipshank looked over at the three women, "any emotional suffering, and the costs associated with replacing any artifacts lost, the Goblin Nation would be pleased to provide you with any reasonable accommodation necessary to provide us with such valuable information," he finished, his teeth showing widely.

Lucius was well aware this facial expression on a goblin was not a display of happiness or pleasure. The goblins were never happy when they owed a wizard something.

"First and foremost, we will need appropriate quarters for a week," he began, "we will need to make a trip to our vaults to deposit the chests we brought with us, which will allow you to obtain a list of what was lost when your wards fell. We will need messenger services to allow us to discretely communicate with certain people. We will also need to prevent our enemies from knowing our whereabouts. We may have other short-term needs which will need to be accommodated," Lucius finished.

Slipshank was waiting for the other shoe to drop. "Quarters are being prepared as we speak, Lord Malfoy, and should be ready for your inspection by the time we have returned from your vaults. Gringotts can provide extremely discrete messenger services. If you have missives you need to send immediately," he paused looking at Lucius, who shook his head,"otherwise we can have something for you in the morning. With regard to your last point, while I am certain the list of your known enemies is finite, it may be too long to reasonably enumerate. Is there anyone outside of this group or the Goblin Nation you wish notified of your location?" Slipshank asked.

"Only two people," Lucius answered, "Lord Neville Longbottom and Lord Harry Potter-Black."

-oOoOo-

4 miles Southwest of Alston, United Kingdom, 13 miles East of Hesket, United Kingdom; Coltor Castle, Rose Greenhouse Number Three; 8:51 am UTC July 20, 2000

"My Lord, I hate to disturb you when you're working but..." the boy said but trailed off as he watched the man hold his hand up for silence and then continued to carefully prune a particularly aggressive rosebush. The rosebush slowly reached out a branch covered in what appeared to be silver thorns.

"Now now. If you want your breakfast, you'd best pull that back," Neville said in his most authoritative voice. The boy couldn't believe his eyes. The branch actually stopped moving forward and retreated to its former spot. "There now, all trim and proper. Time for your breakfast," Neville said again, his voice taking on a more jovial timbre. He picked up a bucket from the floor and poured half of the red fluid onto the roots of the rosebush. Neville then picket up his tool satchel and the bucket and backed away from the row of rosebushes. Once he was past a yellow line on the ground, he turned around and looked at the boy. "Now, Henry, what can I do for you?" Neville asked

"Sir...that is, My Lord, there is a messenger waiting at the main gate. He says he can speak to no one but the Lord of the House," the boy replied, "and the Chamberlain sent me to fetch you sir, seeing as I am a fast runner."

Neville smiled at the boy's antics. He gestured for the boy to leave the greenhouse ahead of him then walked out himself. He closed the inner door and brought the containment wards back up. He then closed the outer door and brought the second set of wards back up. As the two walked back to the manor, Henry asked many questions about what he had seen in the greenhouse.

"The rosebush stopped when you told it to. How did you train it to do that?" the boy asked excitedly, never having seen a plant try to attack someone, much less the attack being stopped by mere words.

"Henry, magic is all about intent. What I mean to say is that since the plant is of a magical nature, I could sense its somewhat basic intent to consume me. It's the only real reason the plant would attack me in the first place. Now when I spoke to it, it could sense my intent was to feed it willingly as well as my intent that should it attack me, it would be utterly destroyed. Since it's instinctual intent is to continue on to make more rosebushes, it opted for the easy meal. Does that make sense to you?"

"Yes Sir, er, My Lord. What was it you fed it?" Henry asked, somewhat in awe that the Lord would have the patience to talk to a boy.

"Sheep's blood. Specifically the blood from the sheep slaughtered this morning, so it would still be warm and somewhat fresh. The roses don't do as well on stale blood," Neville explained.

"B...b...b...but, My Lord, isn't that dark magic? Feeding blood to a plant?" Henry asked, a hint of fear in his voice.

Neville stopped and looked at the boy kindly. "No, Henry. That is merely an old tale. The roses grow best with fresh blood every ten days and the sheep's blood would have been added to the hounds' food if not given to the plants, and it is only half a bucket of blood. I think the hounds won't miss it that much," Neville explained. "Remember what I said about intent, Henry. Dark magic and dark rites are driven entirely on the intent of the caster to do evil. Sometimes the evil intent is for undeserved gain, sometimes it is to control people, sometimes it is to cause unnecessary pain, and, at its worst, it is to destroy a person's soul," Neville said, looking far away. After a moment he blinked his eyes. "Well, we should be getting back to the gatehouse or we'll both miss lunch. Hold on and I will have us there in a snap," Neville said, reaching his hand out to the boy.

Henry took hold of Neville's hand.

"Now, Henry, think about the entrance to the manor house as if you were standing at the bottom of the steps. Close your eyes. Think about where you're standing, what the paint looks like, how the air smells of peach cobbler. Do you have that in your head?" Neville asked.

Henry nodded.

"Good. Now, push your magic into that picture. Do it slowly. Do it gently," Neville said and could feel Henry's tiny little stream of magic.

Neville then framed the same place in his mind and, taking a trick from Harry, slowly pushed his magic into the picture in his mind and took a step.

"Open your eyes, Henry," Neville said, a smile on his face.

Henry opened his eyes and saw the manor house right in front of him, just as he had pictured it, right down to the mouth-watering aroma of fresh baked pies. "How...?" Henry asked, now even more astonished at his Lord's abilities.

Neville laughed. "Magic, Henry. One day, you, too, will be able to use your magic the way I use mine. Listen well to your mother, your father and the other folks here. If you listen and learn, your first year at Hogwarts will be easy," Neville said, clapping the boy on the shoulder. "Run along now and get cleaned up for lunch. I understand the house elves are serving cobbler for dessert!"

Henry ran off towards the vassal housing leaving Neville shaking his head in amusement. He then took his wand and silently cast. He was immediately clean and his clothing were those of a Lord and not those of a gardener. He then apparated to the front gate.

Simon was there along with the gatesmen. A man was standing at the gate in a non-descript set of forest green robes. Upon hearing Neville arrive, the gatemen came to attention and Simon turned to greet Neville.

"My Lord, our guest wishes to speak with you but will not say upon what matter he wishes to speak. He insists he discuss his message with you and you alone," Simon said, clearly not happy with these conditions.

Neville looked the man over carefully and then turned to Simon. "He has no ill intent," Neville said, then seemed lost in thought for a moment. "We'll be in Greenhouse 8, Simon. Should I be gone for more than half an hour, you know what to do."

"Yes, My Lord. No stone will be left touching another," Simon said grimly.

Neville nodded at him then turned his attention to the unknown man. "Come. Let us see what business you have with House Longbottom."

The man nodded and followed behind Neville as he led the man to what, under normal conditions, would have been considered a greenhouse. This greenhouse looked somewhat different on the outside, as most greenhouses don't have five separate layers of glass spelled to be unbreakable, nor do normal greenhouses have seven complete sets of ward stones.

Neville pulled his wand and opened the first three sets of wards. "We will both enter through the doors in succession. Touch nothing," Neville said to his guest. The two men walked through the first door and closed it behind themselves. They did this again with the second door and then the third door. Neville then closed the three sets of wards and cast a locking spell on the door and privacy spells on the door, walls, ceiling and floor.

"Now, what business do you have with House Longbottom that requires such secrecy?" Neville asked.

"House Malfoy sends greetings and has requested a meeting to discuss the possibility of calling in their debt from House Longbottom," the man said.

-oOoOo-


End file.
